Instagram is a utopia. And it's complicated. People will go to amazing lengths to live an Instagrammable life. For some, it is a distance so great that it can leave a permanent scar and create significant mental health problems. If you're watching Dubai Bling on Netflix, complete it before reading this since it will affect how you perceive the show.
Okay, we warned you. Now, let's get to the point.
Consider the following scenario. You're on a Kardashian-level vacation in Dubai, buying whatever you can and taking advantage of free hotel stays. However, everything has a cost. And the cost of this pleasure is pooping on a rich man (or, in certain situations, letting him crap on your face).
This is how the incredibly awful Dubai Porta Potty fad might be defined. The rich guys of the Emirates have a lot of money to spend and obviously a lot of unusual obsessions to explore. One of them entails paying for international influencers to fly to their mansions and get dirty (very literally). In exchange, they are paid anything between $25,000 and $50,000.
But how do we know this? Rumours around this trend had been circulating for quite some time but the news has been blowing up on TikTok and Twitter since May, for both informative and satirical reasons. One of the earliest accounts came from Laims (surname unknown), a 31-year-old flight attendant-turned-TikTok star. Flight Attendant Laims encountered a first class passenger who claimed to earn money by pooping on Emerati men (hocusbogus2 on TikTok)
Her TikTok account @hocusbogus2.0, which currently boasts 189.7k followers, went viral in May, when she uploaded a video on her account reaffirming the rumours. She added that during her time as a flight attendant, a friend at work remarked how one of the first-class passengers was constantly asking for fibre-rich foods, gobbling down oatmeal and Greek yogurt.
This naturally led Laims to be curious about the woman’s obsession with a fibre diet. Eventually, when she couldn’t hold back, Laims finally asked the passenger, and then realised the passenger too wasn't able to hold back. She had to tell someone:
A screengrab from the reel uploaded by Chennifar where a 26-year-old reads out a bizarre contract where a Dubai man asks her to have sex with his underage cousin
A screengrab from the reel uploaded by Chennifar where a 26-year-old reads out a bizarre contract where a Dubai man asks her to have sex with his underage cousin
In June, another TikTok star Saint Mullan explained her experience with a man who asked her to join him for a yacht party in Dubai. The London-based influencer and personal trainer received this invite as a private Instagram text from a man claiming to be a Dubai prince’s friend.
Saint Mullan's video where she breaks down the requests she got from a Dubai-based man (photo-Saint Mullan on TikTok)
Saint Mullan's video where she breaks down the requests she got from a Dubai-based man (photo-Saint Mullan on TikTok)
The man from Dubai guaranteed her that her flight and stay would be free of cost if she fulfilled his and the prince’s fetishes, namely “urophilia, underside of nails, anal feet” and what not.
Mullan shared the screenshots on TikTok, claiming to spread awareness around the disgusting things that such men can ask in the name of being “sugardaddies” or “patrons”.
A particularly disgusting video also got uploaded on TikTok and Twitter (now removed) around this time that depicted a woman quite literally dropping in the mouth of a man, alleged to be a snippet from a Dubai millionaire’s party. Needless to say, we wouldn’t embed the video here (which can still be found on the dark corners of the Internet but do not look for it, we warn you).
Do the Dubai men have a racial demographic in mind? It is concerning that most of the women who have come out with their accounts as well as the women seen in the graphic videos seem to be of African descent. Even the British women who were asked to be a part of such kinks (such as Saint Mullan) are black.
If the Porta Potty trend wasn’t disturbing enough, an apparent racial targeting of the chosen women only adds further concerns. Back in May, Nigerian magazine City People also reported on how women from the city of Lagos (referring to them as “Lagos Big Babes”!) were actively involved in the trend. However, there are exceptions too like the aforementioned 26-year-old, so it cannot be said for certain if the Dubai men are just interested in black women.
Criticism from a Dubai influencer: While the rest of the world is shocked or even amused, a large share of social media users also feel it’s better to ignore it all as ultimately, it is a kinky act between consenting individuals.
Arab content creator and a self-proclaimed “financially-built man” Ebrahim (@Ebrahim_ka on TikTok) took to social media to express his disgust and how damaging it can be for Dubai’s men.