Chairs, shoes go flying in Egyptian TV brawl

A brawl broke out on an Egyptian talk show last week, as two guests who disagreed on questions of Islamic religious law attacked each other with their chairs and shoes during a live broadcast.

During a fierce dispute over the headscarf, Sheikh Mustafa Rashed threw his chair at Islamist Egyptian lawyer Nabih Al-Wahsh who proceeded to beat him with his shoe on Egypt’s LTC TV.

Rashed, who is known for his permissive religious rulings, including one that permits alcohol consumption, angered Wahsh after he said he believed the Muslim headscarf was a cultural tradition, not a religious duty.

The pair hurled personal insults and accusations of apostasy and mental illness at each other before the brawl broke out.

Footage of the incident shows host Mohamed Al-Ghiety and the production team rushing to separate Wahsh and Rashed.

Ghiety afterwards apologized for the “freestyle wrestling match” that had erupted between his two guests, saying he “never expected something like this could happen on air.”

He said a member of the production team was injured breaking up the fight, and a pane of glass in the studio was broken.

The show went off air as the two exchanged insults, though Ghiety returned to the set after a 13-minute commercial break, and aired the footage of the altercation twice, with running commentary.

The September 26 debate was translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute and posted online over the weekend.