Actor Preity Zinta’s comments on MeToo movement in a recent interview earned her a lot of backlash for shaming victims and laughing about sexual harassment. She has now released a statement on Twitter, in which, she has said that her comments were taken out of context.

“To all the women out there. I am sorry if I have unintentionally hurt your sentiments on the #MeToo movement. It’s ironic that someone who has gone through abuse, as I have, has to clarify this,” she wrote in her statement. Preity was asked in an interview if she has experience harassment. She said she ‘wished’ something like this would have happened to her just so she could respond to the journalist’s comments. Her words drew the ire of Twitter for belittling the trauma of sexual harassment victims. Preity gave clarifications for her words in a series of tweets: “My reason for saying ‘I wish something like this would have happened to me’ in the film industry with a smile was because I would have reacted and slapped the person. So it never happened and much later when it happened I did react and the whole world saw it.”

My final statement on the #MeToo movement & everyone around it. pic.twitter.com/SF9vqEhC4b

— Preity G Zinta (@realpreityzinta) November 20, 2018

Preity also shared a joke in reference to MeToo saying “Aaj ki Sweety kal ki MeToo ho sakti hai”. She later said, “The Sweetu and MeToo comment was not mine but I was quoting a man, which implied that men are now cautious in their approach to women at work.”

Preity also said that she did not want the movement to be diluted by women with false allegations because “My brother went through it and eventually shot himself.” The actor concluded by saying that women should not be victim shamed and men cannot be automatically vilified either. She said, “I have seen both sides of the coin and I’m very hurt and sad I have to write such a long clarification especially after advocating and fighting for women’s rights all my life.”

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First Published: Nov 20, 2018 15:42 IST