Oh Shakira, Shakira.
In June this year, news broke that Latin pop sensation (and the woman who gave us the ultimate soundtrack for South Africa’s 2010 Soccer World Cup amongst numerous other accolades) had faced a run-in with the law.
As many pop culture enthusiasts know, it’s nothing new to hear of a celebrity facing the blue lights for a spectrum of reasons. However, in Shakira’s case, the allegations by the Spanish government aren’t only hefty – they’re also false according to the singer.
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An initial report by Reuters expressed that the tax evasion charge attempting to tarnish Shakira’s name is for a whopping 14.5 million euros (R244 843 810).
However, Shakira has challenged the accusations and refused a settlement agreement.
Speaking to ELLE recently for her cover story, Shakira opened up about how this era has probably been the darkest of her life – but not just because of the government’s play.
Shakira is also dealing with the dissolution of her relationship with Gerard Piqué and another alleged legal matter, a custody battle. She shares that impact on her children linked to the paparazzi following them all in bloodhound fashion has been something they “don’t deserve”.
“Regardless of how things ended or how Gerard and I feel about each other as ex-partners, he is the father of my children,” she shares of the invasive tactics.
As for the Spanish government’s hunt, Shakira gave her side of the story.
In response to the question from interviewer Lulu Garcia-Navarro ,”you decided to fight these accusations instead of settling with them. Why?” Shakira noted:
“I have to fight for what I believe; because these are false accusations.
First of all, I didn’t spend 183 days per year at that time at all. I was busy fulfilling my professional commitments around the world. Second, I’ve paid everything they claimed I owed, even before they filed a lawsuit. So as of today, I owe zero to them. And finally, I was advised by one of the four biggest tax specialist firms in the world, PricewaterhouseCoopers, so I was confident that I was doing things correctly and transparently from day one.
However, even without evidence to support these fictional claims, as they usually do, they’ve resorted to a salacious press campaign to try to sway people, and apply pressure in the media along with the threat of reputational damage in order to coerce settlement agreements.
“It is well known that the Spanish tax authorities do this often not only with celebrities like me (or [Cristiano] Ronaldo, Neymar, [Xabi] Alonso, and many more), it also happens unjustly to the regular taxpayer. It’s just their style. But I’m confident that I have enough proof to support my case and that justice will prevail in my favour,” she said.
The Spanish government claims they have the receipts for the reported lack of coughing up, but Shakira contested this too.
“While Gerard and I were dating, I was on a world tour. I spent more than 240 days outside of Spain, so there was no way I qualified as a resident. The Spanish tax authorities saw that I was dating a Spanish citizen and started to salivate.
“It’s clear they wanted to go after that money no matter what. Even for the next few years, I was traveling the world, working nonstop while pregnant or with Milan as a baby, when my C-section had barely closed. They knew I wasn’t in Spain the required time, that Spain wasn’t my place of work or my source of income, but they still came after me, with their eyes on the prize.”
Of the dark chapter in her life, Shakira refused to slump, and in her artistic fashion, shared her perspective poetically.
“I think that even when you feel like you’re falling down an abyss and there’s no end to that abyss, there’s always a certain safety net at the bottom. And that safety net is formed by family and friends. And if you’ve done things right, you will find that helping hand. And friendship, they say, is the purest form of love, and maybe the most long-lasting one.”
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Feature Image: JAUME DE LAIGUANA/ ELLE/ @shakira
