Vivek Oberoi says sorry, deletes controversial meme

On Monday, Bollywood actor Vivek Oberoi shared a meme in which Aishwarya Rai is seen with Salman Khan, himself, and Abhishek Bachchan in different stages of her life in three different photos.  The stage with Salman is ‘Opinion Poll’, that with Vivek is ‘Exit Poll’, and that with her husband is ‘Actual Result’.  

This meme created a great deal of flutter, as it was seen as a cheap attempt on the part of the ‘Vinaya Vidheya Rama’ villain to make a below-the-belt joke on a woman who is married and is no longer in his life.  Even the National Commission for Women sought an explanation from him.  (For the uninitiated, Aish was believed to be in love with Salman in the 1990s, with Vivek in early 2000s, before marrying Bachchan in the late 2000s).  

After defending the meme, Vivek has on Tuesday finally deleted it from his Twitter.  ”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.  Even if one woman is offended by my reply to the meme, it calls for remedial action. Apologies.  Tweet deleted,” the actor wrote.  

He awaits the release of ‘PM Narendra Modi’, a biopic on you-know-who.