On September 12, 1952 a Syrian magazine published a story that Laila was a spy and donated 50,000 Egyptian Pounds to Israel, and as a result most Arab countries including Egypt boycotted her songs and films. Laila was later acquitted of all the accusations after she proved her innocence.It was later revealed that
Anwar Wagdi was the one behind that rumor as his way to take revenge at his ex-wife.