Shwetha Menon, the President of the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA), slammed the journalist-YouTuber RS Karthik for being "insincere" in his apology after bodyshaming actress Gouri Kishan.
The journalist had asked Malayalam actress Gouri Kishan about her weight last week.
"I don't feel that his statement was an apology... His body language said otherwise. We, all women, stand with Gouri Kishan — irrespective of any industry," the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists president said on Sunday.
What Was The Controversy?
During a press conference in Chennai for the Tamil film Others, a journalist who also runs a YouTube channel, asked Gouri about her weight. Gouri didn't let the question go unnoticed and slammed him for his "disgraceful" question.
"How does my weight concern you in any way? How does it matter and be relevant to the film? My weight is my choice, and it does not concern my talent. I can only speak through my films, and I am working hard. I have chosen characters that are career-oriented," the actor said.
A video of the actor slamming the question was widely circulated on social media, with most people praising Gouri for taking a stand and condemning the YouTuber for their 'sexist' line of questioning.
When there was an attempt to ask her to stop objecting, she said, "It's about me, shouldn't I have a perspective?"
Citing that she's the only woman in the hall, she asked why everyone shoots and is not respectful to a woman. She also asked, "Why are you all silencing me?"
Singer Chinmayi on X said, "Gowri did an amazing job. The moment you call out a disrespectful and unnecessary question — a whole lot of shouting down happens. So proud that someone so young stood her ground and pushed back. No male actor gets asked what his weight is. No idea why they asked a female actor."
On Saturday, the YouTuber apologized, claiming he didn't intend to hurt Gouri and that his question was misconstrued.
RS Karthik added, “If she has been hurt in any way in this whole episode, since everyone is in support of her now, I think I should also reconsider what I said. I apologise for that episode. I didn't have any other motives for asking that question. Sorry.”
The South Indian Artistes' Association (Nadigar Sangam) also expressed solidarity with her. AMMA had earlier expressed support for the actor.
