Kitsui Malaysia apologises for ad controversy with Ruhainies and Bella Astillah

Malaysia beauty brand Kitsui has released a statement regarding its involvement in the recent drama between Malaysian actress Ruhainies, Singaporean actor Aliff Aziz and his wife Bella Astillah, a Malaysian singer and actress. 

In a statement addressing the viral issue, Kitsui thanked and apologised to its fans for being involved with the issues being discussed on social media. 

It added that it does not support either side and said that it will not take advantage of the situation. It ended its statement with well wishes and prayers and thanked its followers once again.

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The issue the brand was referring to is the ongoing drama between the three celebrities where Ruhainies and Aliff were arrested by Federal Territories Islamic Religious Department (Jawi) officers on 9 March after they were seen alone together at Ruhainies’ home in Kuala Lumpur. Following which, Bella told reporters on 13 March that she would be divorcing the actor.

Earlier in March, Kitsui released a Hari Raya ad promoting slimming beverages featuring singer Wany Hasrita and actor Hisyam Hamid. Ruhainies, who was also in the ad, had her face blurred out. Her name was left uncensored, along with a text that said she is an actress and well-known personality.

In the caption of the post, Kitsui said that it would like to ask for "forgiveness" for any confusion that might have resulted from its post on Ruhainies. It explained that she, along with Hasrita and Hamid, were chosen after "through research" that was conducted in October 2023 and that the campaign was shot in December 2023.

It added that it does not support any of the actions of Ruhainies and that it hoped that the incident would not affect the commercial. 

After the incident, the brand then partnered with Bella in surprising move. As part of the partnership, Bella has been named the face of Kitsui Malaysia and released a series of videos on Instagram promoting the brand's beverage mix.

Her videos and captions are followed with the slogan "Wanita bangkit sekarang" ('Women rise up now') and allude to topics such as emotional and physical strength, happiness and patience.

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