Simo Ben (Simo Benbachir) is an award-winning journalist who’s lauded and feared for his unshakable integrity and brutal honesty. As the first TV reporter from Morocco to cover notable events like the Oscar Awards and the Grammy’s, Simo has a reputation for being a truth-teller. This is more than evident in his recently released book: Sneaky Showbiz. I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Simo over coffee to ask him more about his book, and here’s what he had to say.
Q: Your book was released on 11/11/2022 in the US. Why did you choose this specific date? Please, tell us more about it.
A: For me, it’s a magical date. The numerology just spoke to me. And a date like that doesn’t happen every day, so why not release something relating to magic on such a magical day?
The book Sneaky Showbiz is an exposé that sheds light on the Moroccan entertainment world’s dirty little secrets. It’s about how these celebrities use black magic to get ahead and by any means necessary—especially if their success means their fellow citizen’s failure. In general, it could be observed that some Moroccans don’t want to see other Moroccans succeed in life. To some, if that person is succeeding, it means you’re not, and that successful person should be condemned. Unfortunately, it’s just a part of our culture.
Q: Many people were really creeped out by the cover of Sneaky Showbiz. Could you tell us more about the infamous Moroccan Queen of Sorcery?
A: Her name is R’kia, and she detests labels, but yes, she is the Moroccan Queen of Sorcery. All walks of life come to her for any and every kind of problem they may have. But what really struck me while I was on this assignment was the huge number of Moroccan celebrities coming to use her services.
Q: Which kind of services?
A: Spells. Many of these celebrities cast spells to further their career in the entertainment world, and others cast spells to block their competitors from going further in their careers.
Q: Wow, it sounds like the entertainment industry there is quite different from the US.
A: First of all, in Morocco and the Arab world in general, entertainment is haram–meaning prohibited by Islam which is the main religion. So being an artist, man or woman, on a stage singing in front of people is a big no-no. The religion also considers all money earned from any aspect of showbiz as haram.
That doesn’t prevent people from being artists because they don’t care. They’re already rebellious, and their careers go against the rules of Islam. Since they’re doing this in a culture that is completely controlled by religion and the majority of the public is religious, these people view artists as the Devil. And if these artists are already being judged and called every name in the book for challenging the Qu’ran and Islam by dancing and singing, what’s the difference if these artists use something else that’s also illegal or haram but widely used across the culture–like sorcery?
Q: I had a chance to read the crazy stories in this book, and many journalists who have been in your part of the world confirmed the impact of sorcery. But does it really work?
A: I don’t want to spoil it for the public here, but something that I found crazy was that I know a lot of Moroccan artists who perform one or two songs and end up owning apartments in the most expensive skyscrapers in Dubai—where my people don’t have an immaculate reputation. Personally, I think black magic is what pushes these CEOs and billionaires in the Middle East to donate millions of dollars to these young artists and models over other young and beautiful models from all around the world who don’t use witchcraft. Some of them even make more money than some of the most famous international artists. Their fake success is a cover-up to justify the wealth they receive that is obviously unrelated to entertainment.
Q: Your book is #1 in many categories on Amazon. How do you feel about it?
A: To be honest, I didn’t expect the book would be ranked #1 in so many categories in less than a week after the launch. I’ve always wanted to export the craziness of our culture to a global audience. I’ve come to realize that most Americans aren’t familiar with these stories, so it’s been rewarding seeing their response to what took me so long to complete.
Q: What’s next for you?
A: Besides spells that people can cast on you, we have the Evil Eye, which is very powerful. So, most people don’t speak about their upcoming projects for fear that someone will put the Evil Eye on them and disrupt those projects or something worse. I’ll tell you about my next project when it’s out.
