Brilliant actor Randeep Hooda found himself in centre of a controversy after a video clip of him from 2012 went viral on social media. The video features the actor making an insensitive "joke" subjected towards a woman named Mayawati. People specualted this Mayawati to be the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister. The joke was considered inhumane, casteist and mysogynistic by many and netizens called out Hooda for his poor mentality.

Soon after the clip went viral, #arrestrandeephooda started trending on Twitter. Several Bollywood stars including Richa Chadda also criticised the actor. Another shocking outcome of this controversy was Hooda being removed as the ambassador of the Convention for the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) — an environmental treaty of the United Nations.

Hooda was made ambassador due his love for nature, wildlife and animal photography.