Shilpa Shetty condemns ‘trial by media’ and says she is a ‘proud law-abiding Indian’ as she responds to claims about her husband’s ‘porn racket’ arrest
- The Bollywood actress, 46, has broken her silence in a heartfelt Instagram post
- She slammed the ‘rumours and accusations’ surrounding Raj Kundra’s arrest
- Kundra was arrested over his alleged involvement in a porn production ring
Shilpa Shetty has condemned the ‘trial by media’ and the ‘rumours and accusations’ surrounding her husband’s arrest for allegedly producing pornographic films.
The Bollywood actress, 46, said she is a ‘proud law-abiding Indian citizen’ as she broke her silence in an Instagram post on Monday after husband Raj Kundra was denied bail last week.
The 45-year-old was detained on July 19 in Mumbai by police who said they have ‘sufficient evidence’ that he is a ‘key conspirator’ in a porn production ring. He has denied the allegations.
Publishing or transmitting ‘obscene’ material including porn is illegal in India under a 2015 law and punishable by up to seven years in jail.
In her post, Shetty said: ‘Yes! The past few days have been challenging, on every front. There have been a lot of rumours and accusations. A lot of unwarranted aspersions on me cast by the media and (not so) well wishers as well.
‘A lot of trolling/questions posed… not only to me but also to my family. MY STAND… I HAVE NOT COMMENTED YET and will continue to refrain from doing so on this case as it is subjudice, so please stop attributing false quotes on my behalf.
Shilpa Shetty has condemned the ‘trial by media’ and the ‘rumours and accusations’ surrounding her husband’s arrest for allegedly producing pornographic films
The Bollywood actress, 46, said she is a ‘proud law-abiding Indian citizen’ as she broke her silence in an Instagram post on Monday
‘Reiterating my philosophy of, as a celebrity “Never complain, never explain”. All I will say is, as it’s an on-going investigation, I have full faith in the Mumbai Police & the Indian judiciary.’
The Celebrity Big Brother 2007 winner appealed for privacy in the heartfelt plea on Instagram posted to her 21 million followers.
She continued: ‘As a family, we are taking recourse to all our available legal remedies. But, till then I humbly request you – especially as a MOTHER – to respect our privacy for my children’s sake and request you to refrain from commenting on half-baked information without verifying the veracity of the same.
‘I am a proud law-abiding Indian citizen and a hardworking professional for the last 29 years. People have put their faith in ME & I’ve never let anyone down.
‘So, most importantly, I request you to respect my family’s and “my right” to privacy in these times. We don’t deserve a media trial. Please let the law take its course.’
The Celebrity Big Brother 2007 winner appealed for privacy in the heartfelt plea on Instagram posted to her 21 million followers
Raj Kundra, 45, pictured arriving at Mumbai’s Esplanade Court, also known as Killa Court, on Tuesday
Media reports say Kundra is accused of telling aspiring actresses they could break into Bollywood through his company, Viaan Industries, which allegedly produced pornographic content for Hotshots, an adults-only mobile app.
The women were then pressured into shooting sex scenes on the pretext of securing a foothold in the Hindi film industry, police said.
US-based YouTube and TikTok influencer Puneet Kaur said the businessman contacted her on Instagram this year asking her to enter a contest on Hotshots.
‘This man was really luring people – we literally thought it was spam when he sent that DM to me!? Jesus Christ man rot in jail,’ Kaur posted on Instagram last week.
Shetty allegedly told police her husband was producing ‘erotica, not porn’ and was innocent.
There is currently no evidence she was involved in the alleged porn production.
Bollywood actress and Celebrity Big Brother star Shilpa Shetty (pictured right) has given a statement to Indian police as they investigate her husband
Police have seized Kundra and Ms Shetty’s financial records, including details of transactions from a joint account. They are investigating whether money from the adult content was invested in Bitcoin, the Times of India reported.
Ms Shetty was questioned by police on Friday. She told them she believed Kundra was innocent and claimed his brother-in-law Pradeep Bakshi was the one involved with mobile app ‘HotShots’, which allegedly streamed pornographic content, the Economic Times reported.
She said she was ‘unaware of the exact nature of the content’ on the app, but described it as ‘erotica’ rather than pornography.
Officers are seeking to clone Ms Shetty’s phone and may also bring her in for a second round of questioning.
Four of Kundra’s employees have become witnesses in the case after telling police they were asked to delete clips from Hotspots.
The app was eventually removed from the Google Play Store and Apple Store, but they told police Kundra launched ‘plan B’ – a second app called Bollyfame.
It is just the latest scandal to hit Kundra, who was banned from all cricket-related activities in 2015 following claims of match fixing during his time as owner of the Rajasthan Royals alongside wife Shilpa, with whom he has two children.
Shilpa, a hugely successful Bollywood actress in her own right, shot to fame in Britain during the 2007 series of Celebrity Big Brother when she was racially abused by Jade Goody and other contestants.
The actress eventually won the series, and then reconciled with Jade during the British reality star’s battle with cervical cancer the following year.
Back in 2007, Shilpa shot to fame on the fifth series of Celebrity Big Brother and became embroiled in a race row with the late Jade Goody, Danielle Lloyd and S Club 7 star Jo O’Meara.
Back in 2007, Shilpa shot to fame on the fifth series of Celebrity Big Brother (pictured) and became embroiled in a race row with the late Jade Goody
Jade had entered the house with her mother Jackiey Budden and boyfriend Jack Tweed, with Jackiey quickly embroiled in arguments with multiple other housemates including Shilpa – claiming she was ‘unable to pronounce’ her name.
Jackiey was quickly evicted but friction between Jade and Shilpa continued, before the former made several racially-charged comments including claiming to be unable to pronounce Shilpa’s name.
Jade was evicted shortly afterwards in a match-up against Shilpa, who received 83 per cent of the public vote.
She left the house without an audience due to the public backlash and the number of complaints Ofcom had received about her remarks – around 45,000.
Shilpa ultimately went on to win the series.
Channel 4 initially tried to downplay the row as ‘girly rivalry’ and a ‘cultural clash’, but was forced to issue an apology for ‘editorial misjudgments’ after an Ofcom ruling.
The episode sparked a national debate about what is considered racist language, with one newspaper running the headline ‘Beauty v Bigot’.
Shilpa, a famous Bollywood actress in her own right, shot to fame in the UK in 2007 when she won Celebrity Big Brother after being racially abused by Jade Goody and other contestants
Jade initially tried to defend herself against allegations of racism but ultimately conceded that she had been in the wrong, before agreeing to go on Indian reality TV show Bigg Boss as a way of making amends.
But just two days into filming, Jade was diagnosed with cervical cancer and flown home for treatment.
She and Shilpa reconciled during her public cancer battle during which she underwent chemotherapy, and even visited her a few days before her death.
Jade passed away in March 2009.
Last year, Kundra and wife Shilpa welcomed their second child via surrogate.
The couple announced their baby joy via Instagram, with Shilpa telling fans that the newborn has ‘completed our family’.
She shared the first picture of her daughter Samisha, who arrived on 15 February, to social media.
Shilpa and husband Raj married in 2009. The are also parents to son Viaan Raj who was born in May 2012, three years after the couple tied the knot.
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