Nas Daily followers drop drastically after report of ongoing coup with Whang-Od in the Philippines

By Edward Era Barbacena

Palestinian-Israeli digital influencer Nuser Yassin, known as Nas Daily for his one-minute viral videos, has suffered a massive drop in followers on his Facebook page. This Wednesday (4), its digital learning platform, Nas Academy, was accused of dealing a scam by announcing a traditional tattooing course with Philippine artist Whang-Od, which she would not have agreed to. According to Quds News, between Aug. 4-6, around 306,900 users stopped following Nas Daily's, via Facebook's CrowdTangle analytics tool. Since then, several new reviews of him have surfaced on the internet, with many using the hashtag #UnfollowNasDaily and #CancelNasDaily.

Nas Academy offered a paid tattoo course with world-renowned traditional artist Whang-Od, saying that she "will reveal all the rituals, tools and methods for making traditional tattoos".

Whang-od Oggay, also known as Maria Oggay, is a Filipino tattoo artist from
Buscalan, Tinglayan, Kalinga, Philippines. She may be the oldest surviving
traditional artist in Asia or in the world at the age of 104

104-year-old Whang Od Oggay is known as the last traditional Kalinga tattoo artist and the oldest working tattoo artist in the world. She, who is also known as Maria Oggay, preserves the tribe's traditional way of getting tattoos, with a lime thorn attached to the bamboo stem for the needle and soot mixed with sweet potatoes and water for the pigment. She is from Butbut in Buscalan, Kalinga.

“Fun Fact: The Nas Academy team had to travel for two full days to a remote village in the Philippines – just to find you and bring this course to you. Now you have the chance to learn from a living legend, preserve your legacy and pass it on to future generations,” says the course description.

Shortly after the announcement, Whang-Od's granddaughter, who is also a tattoo artist, posted on Facebook that the course was a scam and her grandmother had not signed any contract with Nuser Yassin. Nas Academy took the course off the air after the complaint.

"Heads up! Whang Od's course is a scam. My grandmother did not sign any contract with Nas Daily to take any courses. Some people are taking advantage of our culture. PLEASE HELP US STOP this disrespect for the legacy of Apo Whang-od and the Butbot Tribe,” 

-wrote Palicas.

The influencer responded on social media to the accusations on Thursday, reinforcing the channel's wide audience in the Philippines and stating that the tattoo artist had agreed to the project.

A clip of a video posted by Nas Daily showing Whang Od
gave consent using thumb mark on a contract

“We want to share their culture so that future generations can appreciate and respect the ancient Kalinga tradition of mambabatok. That's why we pitched to your family the idea of ​​creating the Whang-Od Academy. She and her family in attendance loved this idea and worked WITH the US to build it, with Whang-Od teaching herself. In fact, Whang-Od's trusted niece Estella Palangdao was present and translated the contents of the contract before Whang-Od affixed her fingerprint, signifying her full consent to the project,” said Nas. He reiterated that everyone was compensated for the time and that most of the course sales would go to the artist and family, saying he was "saddened" by "the falsehoods circulating online". “Out of respect for your family,

Gracia Palicas replied: “I spoke to her and she said she didn't understand what the translators were saying. I am sorry to say that she will not be joining the Nas Daily. I know you have good intentions to share our culture with the next generation. However, our village's concern is that some people are profiting and exploring our art and culture. I know you talked to someone and paid and would split the profits, but Apo Whang Od is not aware of your contract. I hope you solve this”.