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Celebrities who made insensitive comments on rape and rape victims faced the ire of media and fans alike. Below is a list of some of them.
Salman Khan, sparked an uproar by saying his demanding training schedule for an upcoming film left him feeling “like a raped woman”. The controversial comment was made during a media interview to promote his latest film ‘Sultan’.
However, these sort of crude remarks by celebrities is not a new thing and in fact is a global phenomenon, showing us that we have a long way to go before people realise that rape is a very real crime against women – not a joke in any way.
Defending his brother, Arbaaz Khan yet again had the tempers soaring when he said, “There are certain things which we say while talking and it is important to see the intention with which it was said. There is no doubt that whatever Salman said, the intention was not wrong. It was a comparison quite akin to saying there was a huge mountain in my shoulder or I work like a donkey. If Salman feels the need he will apologize.”
Source – movies.ndtv.com
Dev, a well known and popular Bengali movie star was giving interviews while contesting for elections. When asked how he felt about joining politics, he responded “Enjoy… It’s just like being raped. You can shout or you can enjoy.”
Source – timesofindia.indiatimes.com
In an interview with the publication – Vanity Fair in 2011, the international heartthrob, Depp said, “Well, you just feel like you’re being raped somehow. Raped … It feels like, kind of weird — just weird, man. [I’ll pose with fans], but whenever you have a photo shoot or something like that, it’s like — you just feel dumb. It’s just so stupid.” This comment had not gone down well with his female fans, who had found it to be absurd and insensitive.
Source – india.com
While performing in a popular joint American comedian, Daniel Tosh was told off by a female fan after saying that rape jokes are always funny. The woman responded that they were not, Tosh reportedly said,“Wouldn’t it be funny if that girl got raped by, like, five guys right now? Like right now?”
His comment was offensive and irresponsible. As a performer and a celebrity how could he have passed such a remark? He should have been careful about what he described as funny.
Source – concertfix.com
While riding high on her ‘Twilight’ series, Kristen Stewart in a media interview had likened fame to rape. Her exact words were, “What you don’t see are the cameras shoved in my face and the bizarre intrusive questions being asked, or the people falling over themselves, screaming and taunting to get a reaction. The photos are so… I feel like I’m looking at someone being raped. A lot of the time I can’t handle it.” She had faced the ire of the public on making such a comment.
Source – moviespilot.com
These are just a few examples of how at times celebrities undersestimate the power of their words and how it could hurt sentiments.
Considering that they are youth icons they can be a lot more responsible and careful when speaking to the media. I’m hoping that in the future Indian celebrities would be more cautious while expressing themselves, and avoid making light of an issue that is very real to women.
Featured Pic Source – ibtimes.co.uk
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