On Thursday, a judge concluded there are ‘sufficient indications’ for her to go to trial for allegedly avoiding the payment of 14.5 million euros, according to Euro Weekly.
And on Friday, Shakira, 44, appeared on ITV’s Lorraine but there was no mention of singer’s £13million tax evasion scandal, just a day after Spanish prosecutors accused her of six offences, which could result in jail time if she is convicted.
Instead of being grilled about the situation, the Colombian superstar opened up about motherhood, making music and her passion for surfing, while promoting new single Don’t Wait Up.
Lighthearted: On Friday, Shakira, 44, appeared on ITV’s Lorraine but there was no mention of singer’s £13million tax evasion scandal, after Spanish prosecutors accused her of six offences
20 years since her first hit single Whenever Wherever, stormed the charts and catapulted her to worldwide fame, Shakira has been on UK television to celebrate.
Speaking via videolink to Ross King, the singer enthused about being able to resume making music after lockdown, admitting: ‘It was hard to make music [during lockdown], being isolated from everybody.
‘But now that it is a little safer to be in a room with collaborators, I’m seizing the opportunity and I feel like a horse that’s running wild after being for so long in a box.’
The fitness fanatic also insisted: ‘I surf for real’ when asked if she had a stunt double for her new music video.
Yikes! On Thursday, a judge concluded there are ‘sufficient indications’ for her to go to trial for allegedly avoiding the payment of 14.5 million euros, according to Euro Weekly
Talking about life as a parent, Shakira asserted: ‘The biggest and most profound change is becoming a mum, [it’s] the hardest job I’ve ever had to take on and also the most fulfilling thing.
‘I feel so much comfort in the hug of my kids, when I have them around me, physically, they kiss me and they tell me, ‘Mom, I love you.’ I just feel in the clouds when that happens.’
She added: ‘It’s hard to keep a balance, but I feel like this is a new chapter in my life. My kids are at an easier age now, they’re six and eight, so they’re more independent, which allows me to do my own thing too and I guess that’s why I feel so creative lately.’
Staying away from the scandal: Instead of being asked about it, the superstar opened up about motherhood, making music and her passion for surfing, while promoting single Don’t Wait Up
Asked if her children realise she and husband, footballer Gerard Piqué, are worldwide superstars, Shakira admitted: ‘They do, but I try to provide them with as much normality as I can.
‘Gerard and me like to be regular people. We forget about the celebrity personas we represent most of the time, it’s only people in the street that remind us of that.’
On whether their two sons prefer music or football, Shakira mused: ‘They oscillate – the eldest is very sporty, but he’s very musical, he just doesn’t know it.
‘He tells me, ‘Mom, remember I’m a football person, do not get confused. Yeah, I play the drums, but I’m a football person.’ He just wants to leave things clear for me and not create hopes.
‘They’re very sweet, sweet boys and we’re very happy being parents and also very tired!’
Doing the promo rounds: 20 years since her first hit single Whenever Wherever, stormed the charts and catapulted her to worldwide fame, Shakira has been on UK television to celebrate
While the lighthearted conversion allowed Shakira to touch on certain aspects of her life, the tax evasion allegations hanging over her were not mentioned.
Spanish prosecutors claim the Hips Don’t Lie hitmaker stopped paying taxes in Spain in the years 2012, 2013 and 2014.
Shakira has previously said that during those years she lived in the Bahamas and was not a resident of Spain, only visiting the country ‘sporadically’.
But now a judge has concluded there are ‘sufficient indications’ for Shakira to go to trial for allegedly avoiding the payment of 14.5 million euros, Euro Weekly reports.
Shakira plans on presenting an appeal to the Barcelona Court against the judgment, it is believed.
Oh dear: Spanish prosecutors claim the Hips Don’t Lie hitmaker stopped paying taxes in Spain in the years 2012, 2013 and 2014. The time frame to prosecute alleged tax offences in 2011 has expired (Pictured in July)
The musician has previously insisted she is innocent of tax evasion after she was questioned by a Spanish judge.
She denied allegations of not paying tax when she lived in Spain between 2011 and 2014, during an hour and a half long hearing in Esplugues de Llobregat, near Barcelona.
Prosecutors claimed that the superstar failed to pay taxes in Spain despite being a resident in the country for four years before 2014.
While she is alleged to have moved to Spain in 2011 when her relationship with footballer Gerard Pique was made public, prosecutors claim she maintained her official tax residency in the Bahamas until 2015 when she started paying taxes in Spain.
The details: While she is alleged to have moved to Spain in 2011 when her relationship with footballer Gerard Pique was made public, prosecutors claim she maintained her official tax residency in the Bahamas until 2015 when she started paying taxes in Spain (Pictured in 2019)
The case only covers the period from 2012 to 2014, as the time frame to prosecute alleged tax offences in 2011 has expired.
Her press team later had previously released a statement stating the Colombian Superstar was innocent and everything claimed by tax authorities had been paid. ‘There is currently no debt’, it said.
Her defence team had argued that until 2014 she earned most of her money in international tours and did not live more than six months a year in Spain – and was therefore not a resident under tax law.
The statement said: ‘Shakira has always fulfilled her tax duties in all those countries in which she has worked, including in the period between 2011 and 2014’/
‘She followed the opinions and precise recommendations of her advisers, who are top-level professionals from one of the biggest companies in the world.’
Lorraine airs weekdays at 9am on ITV and ITV Hub.