Atay, who produces material in Urdu and has more than 850,000 Instagram followers, stated that in 2025, Maria B’s team asked her to oversee a location shoot in Turkey.
She said that a fee per outfit was part of the deal to pay for local production expenses.
Atay claimed that although she had finished the project, she had only been paid a portion of the total. The brand allegedly contested the agreement, claiming that payments were typically provided per outfit rather than per social media reel.
“Three months have passed,” Atay stated in a video message. “They have treated me in an unprofessional manner, wasted my time, and avoided full payment.”
Moreover, she also accused the famous designer of deleting comments and messages related to the shoot after Tarkan’s husband tried to mediate
Maria B has already courted controversy surrounding Turkey. She became involved in a plagiarism issue in August of last year after the release of her “Palestine Collection.”
Symbolic Palestinian images, including the national flag, the watermelon motif, and the keffiyeh, were included on the line’s T-shirts and lawn wear.
Despite being meant to show support for Palestine, the collection immediately came under fire for allegedly taking advantage of a humanitarian issue for profit.
The situation escalated even more when Maria B was accused of copying a particular design by artist Leena Ghani.
The particular piece of art, which initially surfaced on the Instagram page Palestine Quebec, was originally made by Turkish artist Hacı Balina Atölye and featured a map of Palestine, a child, and olive branches.
Maria B responded on Instagram as the criticism grew, acknowledging that the design was utilized “unintentionally” and attributing the oversight to the quick dissemination of digital content.