Vasilis Zoulias, the well-known Greek fashion designer, deleted his original social media post about the death of singer Giorgos Mazonakis and published a new one, after his first comments triggered a wave of criticism online.
In his first post, Zoulias had referred to Mazonakis's condition and criticized people whom he said were now searching for someone to blame for the singer's death, despite having shown little real interest in him while he was alive. He had described Mazonakis as a deeply unhappy man who tried in all the wrong ways to free himself from pain, adding that the singer did not listen to people who genuinely wanted to help him.
Zoulias's sharper new post
In his follow-up post, Zoulias again referred to Mazonakis, this time in a particularly sharp tone. Without naming anyone, he directed his criticism at people he said were paid to try to save Mazonakis, calling them, in his view, a little worse than doctors, because they sold hope drawn from hope that had been given to them generously, and above all without payment.
He wrote that the post which had upset those people had since been taken down. Zoulias then apologized to anyone who had been bothered by his comments, while making a sarcastic remark about the public debate that has followed the singer's death. He said everyone could now go back to sleep, adding that everything was fine, glamorous and, above all, happy.
'He had said it all through his songs'
Closing the post, Zoulias returned to the subject of Mazonakis himself and his music, saying the singer had captured what he was going through in his own songs. He said Mazonakis was an artist who offered joy and entertainment, and that he ultimately had no business speaking about him, since Mazonakis had already said everything about his life through his songs. He ended the post with a single trailing word, "but".
Mazonakis was a 54-year-old singer well known on the Greek music scene. Zoulias is a prominent designer in Greece whose social media posts regularly spark public debate, as his first comments on Mazonakis's death did earlier this week.
Zoulias's latest remarks come as public discussion over Mazonakis's death continues to grow. Authorities are still investigating the circumstances in which the singer suffered cardiac arrest at a clinic in Kolonaki, an upscale district of central Athens.
