- Maitreyi Ramakrishnan and Supriya Ganesh condemned a racist post on X targeting South Asian actors
- The post described Ramakrishnan, Ganesh, Chandran, and Azeez using a derogatory kamwali bai stereotype
- Ganesh called the post colourist, classist, and expressed commitment to challenging such offensive views
Maitreyi Ramakrishnan and Supriya Ganesh have spoken out after a controversial post on X described them and fellow Indian actors, Charithra Chandran and Shabana Azeez, as fitting a "kamwali bai phenotype."
The remark quickly drew backlash online, reigniting conversations around racism, stereotypes and the representation of South Asian actors in global entertainment. Responding to the criticism, both actresses called out the offensive language used in the post.
Supriya Ganesh, who portrays Dr Samira Mohan in The Pitt, called the post "colourist, classist, and garbage take." She wrote, "Hey, so this is supremely fucked up, and I truly hope you deal with your self-hate. Colourist, classist, garbage take."
In a follow-up post, she added, "And I'm always going to talk back about this shit because I'm never going to let women and folks who look like me feel bad about themselves, never going to shut up:))))))"
"Realising people are probably racist bc it guarantees more engagement on social media, but jfc what is the line when they are literally using a photo of you and you look like your mother, your sister, your friend and people you love????," Supriya wrote.
Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, known for playing Devi Vishwakumar in Netflix's Never Have I Ever, also shared his two cents on the post. She responded, "Womp womp cry harder. must be hard to look at four baddies constantly."
Among the other actresses mentioned in the post, Charithra Chandran is known for her charming portrayal of Edwina Sharma in Bridgerton Season 2. She was recently seen as Nefertari Vivi in the second season of the live-action series One Piece.
Meanwhile, Shabana Azeez has been making a name for herself globally with her role as medical student Victoria Javadi on The Pitt.