Actor Randeep Hooda Removed As UN Ambassador Over "Joke" On Mayawati

Actor Randeep Hooda has been removed as the ambassador of the Convention for the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), United Nation's environmental treaty, following a controversy over his derogatory comments against Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati.

Mr Hooda has been under fire since Wednesday when a 9-year-old video of him making a "joke", which social media users termed casteist and sexist, went viral online.

The 43-second-clip from an event organised by a media house in 2012 resurfaced when a Twitter user shared it. The video has Mr Hooda cracking a joke and then laughing along with the audience.

In a statement posted on its website, CMS said the organisation finds the comments in the video to be "offensive" and Randeep Hooda will no longer serve as the ambassador for them.

"The CMS Secretariat finds the comments made in the video to be offensive, and they do not reflect the values of the CMS Secretariat or the United Nations," the statement read.

"Mr. Hooda no longer serves as a CMS ambassador," it added.

The actor was appointed as the CMS Ambassador for Migratory Species in February 2020 for three years.

While CMS is a treaty of the United Nations, the statement clarified that it is separate from both the UN Secretariat and the UN Environment Programme and the only entity for which Hooda served as a brand ambassador was CMS.

The 44-year-old actor has been strongly criticised, both on and off the internet, with many asking him to apologise for his remarks against the former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.

On Friday, #ArrestRandeepHooda was trending as Twitter users demanded legal action against the "Radhe" actor.