Pop superstar Shakira is accusing Spanish authorities of “burning” her at the stake after settling her $15 million tax fraud case last year.
“The most disappointing thing was that the state body was more interested in publicly impaling me than listening to my reasons. Well, I think it’s time to strike back,” Shakira wrote in a letter published By a Spanish newspaper world.
The Colombian pop star, who has denied any wrongdoing, said she agreed to settle and pay a $7.5 million fine in her tax fraud case to “protect” her two sons.
“I want to leave my children a legacy of a woman who explained her reasons calmly and in her own time, when she felt it was necessary, not when she was forced to,” Shakira wrote. “I need them to know that the decisions I made were made to protect them, to be by their side and to move forward with my life. Not out of cowardice or guilt.”
The “Hips Don’t Lie” singer accused Spanish authorities of “trying to make the public believe I didn’t pay my taxes, when the truth is I paid more than I did.”
Shakira said that when she decided to live in Spain in 2015, the authorities “immediately tried” to collect her taxes for the past 10 years.
“What seemed like a polite way to formalize my situation turned out to be a trap,” the singer wrote. “A person who spends their time traveling the world cannot intend to be a tax resident in a place because the person they are in a relationship with at the time lives there.”
The “Whenever, Wherever” singer also accused the Spanish authorities of wanting a “hunting trophy” to rebuild their credibility, claiming they did this by “scaring people, threatening them with prison, endangering the peace of mind of our children and putting us under pressure. . break us up.”
“There may be those who may wonder why I am bothering to make these statements now,” she wrote. “The first reason is my children. We live in an age marked by a tone of arrogance from the state, but bullying is not the same as giving reasons.”
Shakira added, “Burning a public figure at the stake every year doesn’t solve things, as if it’s an inquest trial to recover a lost reputation.” “No one can write my story for me. Like my songs, I sing to live in peace again, to turn the page.”
Spanish prosecutors had charge Shakira failed to pay 6.7 million euros ($7.2 million) in taxes on her 2018 income. The charges were later dropped in May.
Shakira settled a separate tax evasion legal battle with Spanish authorities in November after she was accused of living in Barcelona between 2012 and 2014 and failing to pay 14.5 million euros ($15.4 million) in taxes.
Before settling her legal battle, the pop star faced eight years in prison and more than $26 million in fines.
Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow it Facebook and at X @ARmastrangeloand on Instagram.
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