Shakira slams Spanish tax authorities, defends her innocence

In an interview, Shakira reflected on the high-profile tax fraud case. The star agreed to a settlement but now claims she did so only for the sake of her sons. She doesn't hold back on harsh words for the Spanish authorities.

In November of last year, Shakira agreed to a settlement in the high-profile tax fraud case. As reported by the media, the star was accused of evading $16 million in income tax in Spain, claiming that she did not live in her former partner's homeland between 2012-2014. This allowed her to avoid a prison sentence that could have lasted up to 8 years.

Shakira has maintained from the beginning that she considers herself innocent and agreed to the settlement for the sake of her sons. The artist has revisited the case in an interview with the Spanish newspaper "El Mundo," where she expressed rather harsh words about the local authorities. She doesn't hide that she resents how she was treated.

The most frustrating thing was that a state institution seemed more interested in publicly burning me at the stake than in listening to my reasons, she stated. I want to leave my children the legacy of a woman who explained her reasons calmly and in her own time, when she considered it necessary, not when she was forced to. I need them to know that I made the decisions I made to protect them, to be by their side and to get on with my life. Not out of cowardice or guilt.

At the same time, the star consistently claims that she is innocent. According to her, the Spanish tax authorities resort to "intimidating people, threatening them with jail, putting our children’s peace of mind at risk and putting us under pressure to break us."

They wanted to make the public believe that I did not pay my taxes, when the truth is that I paid much more than I should have, she explains. What seemed like a polite way to formalize my situation became a trap. A person who spends their time touring the world cannot have an intention to reside fiscally in a place just because they live there with the person with whom they are in a relationship at the time.

Shakira also had a few words for those who might be wondering why she is speaking out about this now. She claims it is mainly for her children, but also to make people aware that "things cannot be fixed by burning a public figure at the stake every year, as if it were an Inquisition process to regain lost prestige."

"I tell it to live," to be able to recover my life so that no one writes my story for me. Just like with my songs, I sing to live in peace again, to turn the page.