Bollywood actor Vivek Oberoi found himself in hot waters after tweeting a meme mocking his ex-beau, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan.
The actor poked fun at the Aishwarya’s past relationships and eventual marriage to Abhishek Bachchan, comparing them to the ongoing elections in India, with a meme that was retweeted almost thousands of times before being deleted.
Immediately following his controversial tweet, Vivek was slammed by the twitterati with even celebrities like Sonam Kapoor and Urmila Matondkar weighing in. “Disgusting and classless,” Sonam tweeted; not sure though if she was referring to Vivek or to his post. Urmila wrote it was “very disgraceful” of Vivek to put up such a “disrespectful post”.
Disgusting and classless. https://t.co/GUB7K6dAY8
— Sonam K Ahuja (@sonamakapoor) May 20, 2019
Very disgraceful and in extreme bad taste of #VivekOberoi to put up such a disrespectful post. At least show the decency to pull off the post if not apologise to the lady and her little girl.
— Urmila Matondkar (@UrmilaMatondkar) May 20, 2019
The actor has also been issued a legal notice by the National Commission of Women, with the NCW chairperson Rekha Sharma demanding an explanation for the tweet. “We would like him (Vivek Oberoi) to apologize on social media and also personally to the person concerned. If he doesn’t, we will see what legal action we can take against him. We will be talking to twitter to remove that tweet immediately.”
This tweet is absolutely Disgusting, distasteful, and degrading a women. @NCWIndia will be serving notice to @vivekoberoi https://t.co/Np0APTMzIZ
— Rekha Sharma (@sharmarekha) May 20, 2019
The tweet was then deleted by the actor, with an apology. “Even if one woman is offended by my reply to the meme, it calls for remedial action. Apologies. Tweet deleted.”
Sometimes what appears to be funny and harmless at first glance to one, may not be so to others. I have spent the last 10 years empowering more than 2000 underprivileged girls, I cant even think of being disrespectful to any woman ever.
— Vivek Anand Oberoi (@vivekoberoi) May 21, 2019
Even if one woman is offended by my reply to the meme, it calls for remedial action. Apologies🙏🏻 tweet deleted.
— Vivek Anand Oberoi (@vivekoberoi) May 21, 2019
Despite issuing an apology for his post on Aishwarya, Vivek has refused to address his rude comments towards Sonam Kapoor following her tweet. He had earlier stated to the Indian news agency ANI, “Aap apne filmon mein thoda kam overact karein aur social media pe thoda kam overreact karein (overact less in your films, overreact less on social media),” referring to Sonam’s reaction to his post.
The actor is no stranger to controversy, having had his career almost destroyed in the mid 2000s thanks to his alleged fling with Aishwarya, who has always maintained silence over the relationship.
Vivek was rumored to be dating the former Miss World in 2003, back when she was freshly out of a relationship with Salman Khan. The short-lived romance was doomed from the start, going up in flames once Vivek decided to open up in a press conference about Salman’s alleged abuse towards him and Aishwarya.
The Saathiya actor was shunned by the industry after the allegations and has since not found himself with the same footing as he had entered Bollywood.
