A day after being slammed for 'misogynist' tweet, Vivek Oberoi apologises and deletes meme

MUMBAI: Actor Vivek Oberoi, who had faced flak for tweeting a meme of Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan, on Tuesday apologised and deleted the tweet.

The 'PM Narendra Modi' actor took to Twitter to say, "Sometimes what appears to be funny and harmless at first glance to one, may not be so to others. I have spent the last 10 years empowering more than 2000 underprivileged girls, I can't even think of being disrespectful to any woman ever."


He went on to add, "Even if one woman is offended by my reply to the meme, it calls for remedial action. Apologies. Tweet deleted."


Oberoi's tweet had a collage of images referring to Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan's previous relationships, along with one of her with husband Abhishek and daughter Aaradhya.


The actor, who had reportedly dated the former Miss World, received flak on social media, and was also issued a notice by the National Commission of Women (NCW) for the tweet. Actress Sonam Kapoor, badminton star Jwala Gutta were among those who condemned the actor's tweet on Monday.



Oberoi had responded to the 'Neerja' actress's comment saying that she should "overact less in film, and overreact less on social media".


Earlier in a statement to ANI, he had said that he doesn't see anything offensive in his tweet and will not apologise since he has not done anything "wrong."

"Those who are in the meme have no objection while scores of politicians are trying to politicise the issue. They don't work on issues but start their politics on such non-issues. There is a 'Didi' in West Bengal who puts people behind jail for a meme. Now, these people are demanding to put Vivek Oberoi behind bars. They were unable to stop my film and hence are now are trying to put me behind bars," he said referring to his upcoming film 'PM Narendra Modi' that is scheduled to release a day after the poll results.

He went on to add, "People are asking me to apologise. I have no problem in apologising, but tell me what wrong have I done. If I have done something wrong, I will apologise. I don't think I have done anything wrong. What's wrong in it? Somebody tweeted a meme and I laughed at it."

(With inputs from ANI)