Google Malaysia has unveiled its most searched terms among users in 2019 and in the category for People, Indonesian actress Vanessa Angel (real name Vanesza Adzania) emerged as the top most searched person.
Google Trends data indicated that searches for Vanessa spiked in January this year. This is perhaps due to news reports that Vanessa, 27, had been caught for allegedly being involved in an online prostitution scheme.
Channel News Asia reported that Vanessa was arrested at a hotel room in Surabaya, Indonesia where she charged her clients 80mil Indonesian rupiah (RM23,693) for her services. Another Indonesia celebrity, model Avriellia Shaqqila who reportedly charged her clients 25mil rupiah (RM7,404) for similar services, was also arrested.
Prior to her arrest, Vanessa shared with fans on Instagram that she was in Surabaya for work. Her manager Lidya who said she was not aware of Vanessa's involvement in online prostitution said the actress was there to host an event. After her arrest, Vanessa issued an apology saying she "realised her mistakes and oversight affected many". Then, Vanessa was jailed on Jan 31.
In June, Jakarta Globe reported that Vanessa was sentenced to five months in jail for the online distribution of inappropriate content related to the prostitution services she was offering. She reportedly advertised her services to pimps by sending risque photos of herself through WhatsApp. The pimps would later arrange for Vanessa to meet with clients. Vanessa has since been released from prison.
On Instagram, Vanessa has 1.8 million followers and she appears to have moved on from the scandal. One of her most recent posts is a photo showing herself going to jail in early 2019 next to a new photo at the end of the year where she is smiling on a holiday.
As for other figures on the People list, it seems that Malaysians were also engrossed in the marital issues of some celebrities. The Top 10 category include PU Abu Sufyan, a TV preacher who found himself embroiled in controversy this year for divorcing his pregnant wife to marry another woman, and Hong Kong actress Jacqueline Wong who was caught in a love scandal with singer Andy Hui, who is himself married to actress Sammi Cheng.
The list also includes Singaporean singer Aliff Aziz who made headlines for his alleged infidelity as "Aliff Aziz curang lagi" is one of the popular related search terms.
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