Iranians Arrested for Making ‘Happy’ Video Reportedly Freed

According to multiple reports, several Iranian young people arrested for appearing in a YouTube video dancing to Pharrell’s hit single “Happy” have been freed. The move comes after the country’s president, Hassan Rouhani tweeted, “#Happiness is our people’s right. We shouldn’t be too hard on behaviors caused by joy,” apparently in response to the arrests. Fox News reports that though the three dancers have been released, the video’s director is still incarcerated. Authorities in the country—where co-ed dancing is illegal and women are prohibited from appearing without hijabs according to the Islamic law—tracked down the six dancers from the video soon after it started garnering thousands of views on YouTube. After news of the arrest began to spread online, human rights activists around the world tweeted their support for the filmmakers under the hashtag #FreeHappyIranians. Even Pharrell expressed his support for his fans, tweeting, “It’s beyond sad these kids were arrested for trying to spread happiness” …