Kaz Crossley has opened up about her experience in a Dubai prison, where she was held after being detained over a drug charge in February. The former Lover Islander was waiting in Abu Dhabi airport for a connecting flight to Thailand when she was approached by CID (the Dubai police) who then escorted her to multiple Dubai jails over the course of several days.
The detainment was related to a video from November 2020, which allegedly shows Kaz sniffing a white powder while partying in the United Arab Emirates city. At the time of the incident, the influencer revealed that the video had been taken in secret and leaked by an ex-partner.
FYI, it's widely known that the Middle East has a strict zero-tolerance drug policy, and possession of even the smallest amount of illegal drugs can carry some hefty charges. Namely a (minimum) "three-month prison term or a fine not less than AED 20,000 [£4,561] and not exceeding AED 100,000 [£22,805]," as per the UK government's website.
Now, six months down the line, and after being released without charge (Kaz says she was never actually arrested, and while being moved to and from different jails, was able to keep her personal belongings with her like her phone, etc.) she has chosen to tell her side of the story on the Saving Grace podcast. Sharing a portion of the interview to her Instagram grid, the influencer dubbed the chat as a "safe space to speak [her] truth," while also flagging that one day, she hopes to make a "documentary which will show the injustice between men and women portrayed in the media."
"I came from the Caroline Flack era of Love Island and it disgusts me to see how many years on from her tragedy nothing has changed," she penned in the caption.
While chatting to host Grace Keeling, Kaz admitted she had made "a lot of mistakes" but "will not allow [her] past to define [her]." She also detailed how the whole ordeal severely impacted her mental health. "My family was so worried about me. I was not in a good way, being trolled online every day. I've had to do a lot of healing," she said.
Following this, Kaz expressed that, when the incident took place, she was at a time in her life where she "definitely didn't love [herself] at all."
"This is reflected in what I was doing to my body and who I surrounded myself with," she added.
Elsewhere in the interview – which many viewers have branded as "one of the most genuine podcasts" they've ever heard – Kaz revealed that when the video was leaked she spent three months on her sofa watching back-to-back Friends episodes due to the online hate from trolls and relentless hounding from the press.
She also detailed experiences from her time in prison, one of which was particularly harrowing, in that she was in a cell with a woman and her young baby who was jailed for getting pregnant outside of wedlock. Describing it as one of the "lowest points of [her] whole life," Kaz then explained the conditions of the jail, revealing that she wasn't given anything to wash with or even a change of clothes.
"Until I moved to the other jail and then that’s when I had a shower and saw myself in the mirror for the first time and I had a bald patch from my alopecia," she recalled, something she bravely opened up about back in March.
Thankfully, Kaz seems to be in a much happier headspace these days. From forming her combat sports company, Combat Collective, which empowers women to be "strong, fearless and impactful" to running Muay Thai retreats in Thailand, Kaz expressed how she's a much "stronger person."
Despite her final words, which very much echo America Fererra's powerful speech in Greta Gerwig's Barbie movie: "The thing about being a woman is that when you make a mistake, you are held accountable for that mistake for the rest of your life. You have to apologise, apologise. And then a man can make mistakes, drink-drive, cheat on his Mrs, but if he is changing his life around then he is a hero. And I just had to learn about that the hard way because it is awful."
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Sophie Williams is a Freelance Journalist and Copywriter, covering everything from Fashion to Entertainment to music, Lifestyle and Features. She has interviewed a range of musical artists and authors including Alyssa Edwards, Courtney Barnett, Confidence Man, The Vaccines, Loyle Carner, Gabrielle, and John Niven, and has written for publications like Metro, Reader's Digest, ITV's Woo! and Vice’s NBGA. She is also working on a book for HarperCollins about Taylor Swift, due to be published in 2024.
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