Maya Diab On Cosmetic Surgery, Controversies, And The Challenges of Motherhood | Harper’s Bazaar Arabia Qatar Special, Summer 2023 Issue

From social media to plastic surgery, Maya Diab isn’t afraid to speak her mind. The iconic Lebanese singer and mother tells Bazaar why honesty is crucial to her personal and professional success

Whether you attend one of her concerts or follow her on Twitter, one thing about Maya Diab immediately leaps out: the strength of her presence. It’s a powerful quality that has seen the legendary singer cultivate a global audience of fans devoted to her refreshingly honest and empowering approach.

“The source of my strength simply comes from my inner motivation and sincerity, as I am not afraid of people,” she explains. “I speak my mind – whoever dislikes what I say is free not to listen.”

Motherhood, Maya says, has enforced her emotional strength but, despite being armed with such charisma and impulsiveness, the outspoken singer admits there are certain areas of her life she still cannot explore publicly. “When God blesses you with motherhood, he gives you all the beautiful traits, and motherhood has really added many positive qualities to my personality,” she says. “Yet it prevented me from telling the full truth on many topics. I never lie, but I never tell the whole truth since I know everything I say will affect my daughter.”

Maya has a 13-year-old daughter Kai with her ex-husband, businessman Abbas Nasser and recognises the responsibility of raising a child in today’s complicated world. “Bringing up a child is no joke. At this age, the child’s personality is affected by what they see and hear from their parents, but after a certain age their personality and perception of life is complete,” says Maya. “I believe I will be more daring when my daughter grows up, unless I have other children in the future.”

Being open-minded and honest is the cornerstone of Maya’s approach to motherhood. No topic is off-limits, even cosmetic surgery. Maya herself had her nose done in her late teens and we ask if Kai has ever discussed tweakments with her mum.

“She already asked for it!” laughs Maya. “Teenage girls’ view of beauty has changed completely from the past. I underwent a nose job when I was 19 or 20, and today Kai tells me that one of her classmates had plastic surgery at the age of 13.”

Maya believes the younger generation’s awareness of her procedures puts her in a position where she can’t make objections. “How can I say no when I did the same thing?” she explains. “I can’t be a close-minded mum, and do what I don’t allow my daughter to do. I have set myself up as an example for her. I’ve told her my opinion and convinced her that such operations are better done at a certain age for medical reasons. I rarely say no to her, and it is always a ‘no’ for a reason.”

Is her daughter interested in following in her footsteps? The music industry is fraught with well-known difficulties and dangers but Maya says she would encourage Kai if she showed an interest in following her mother into music. “I started in this field when I was her age, but my life was completely different from what hers is like,” she elaborates. “I am keen to provide my daughter with the life that she should have at this age since God has enabled me to give her the support and security to grow up in a cherished environment. So what would push her to go through the same journey and face the hardships I went through to pursue my dreams? This is my personal take on the situation, and I cannot impose my will on her. I will give her my full support and share my experience with her no matter what path she chooses.”

Driven by a desire for success, Maya experienced fame early in her life as a member of music sensation The 4 Cats, Lebanon’s first all-female pop act, which she joined in 2002 at the age of 22. She eventually left the band in 2010 to pursue her solo career. “That was the beginning of an unexpected journey,” reflects Maya. “Since my solo debut, I have never stopped.”

Maya’s style, beauty and outspoken views have helped make her a social media star with more than 20 million followers across various platforms. Yet she tries to guard certain parts of her private life. “I have to be rude at times in order to prevent people from delving into topics that are none of their business,” she says frankly. “It is not in the interest of the artist to reveal everything to their audience.” A decision to post a photo with her father on Mother’s Day took two weeks of careful consideration. “I am aware that I might expose people around me to publicity that they do not want,” she explains. Becoming famous before social media existed has enabled Maya to have a healthy relationship with it and not get sucked into measuring her success by how many followers she has or whether or not she may be trending that day.

“Each platform has a different audience, and if I am present on a specific one, I present what is appropriate to it,” she says. “An artist must have the flexibility to deal with their audience, without being dragged down the wrong path to become an influencer, fashionista, or anything else. Those are not my professions. First and foremost, I am an artist.” It’s a message she often repeats to her team. “I keep telling them that TikTok is not my platform, where I have to perform a specific dance with one of my songs and so on. An artist must pick between content that fits their ovreall persona and content that may devalue their image.”

Although she has hired a creative team, Maya manages her social media accounts herself and enjoys the freedom of communicating with her audience on Twitter where some of her statements – especially on the political situation in Lebanon – have caused controversy. “I ache for my country,” she says. “Lebanon is at its worst now and worsening every single day. I cannot tell where we are heading, but as long as I can live in my country and my family is around me, I will always stay.” The star says she has not considered leaving and adds, “When staying in Lebanon threatens our lives, emigrating at that time will be a decision, not just an option.”

“Lebanon needs a leader who loves it as a homeland and does not see anything other than this vision. Imagine that a homeland consists of 2,000 groups, each with a different leader, and each bears hostility to the other, and their loyalties change every day. Can you imagine how difficult it is for these groups to unite? We need a person who does not see any of them having supreme authority. Otherwise Lebanon will not change.”

Describing Lebanon as “the gem of the East and haven for all people in the Arab world” she shares, “I have lived happy days in Lebanon that are engraved in my memory although they are not many. I hope that my daughter and future children will live beautiful, happy days there. Every person who lives far from their homeland has a sense of insecurity and nostalgia, the source of which they do not realise. The person who feels this sense of belonging is much stronger.”

Turning back to her craft, Maya recently released the song ‘Taqa Egabiya’ which already has more than one million views on YouTube. She’s currently preparing a mystery duet, followed by a new track. “We’re going to release a lot of summer songs,” she smiles. “The year is full of surprises. I dedicate time to my art and I work hard to climb the ladder step by step. It makes me very happy.”

Photography: Amer Mohamad. Styling: Sleiman Dayaa.

Creative Director: Nour Bou Ezz. Set Designer: Yehia Bedeir. Hair and Make-Up: Irina Kuzmina. Producer: Steff Hawker. Lighting Assistant: Yasir Ali. Fashion Assistant: Nervana Diab. Talent Management: HuManagement

Harper’s Bazaar Arabia Qatar Special, Summer 2023 issue