Sambhavna Seth controversy: In an outrageous and now-deleted Instagram video, actor Sambhavna Seth and her husband Avinash appeared to openly mock their domestic help's Adivasi roots. While her husband needled the woman on the language he overheard her speaking and where she was from, Seth rolls to the floor with laughter.
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Massive social media backlash prompted them to delete their offensive video and issue an apology on camera. "It was not our intention," they blandly explained; a now-familiar formula public figures conveniently turn to after a foot-in-mouth, whose baggage and implications apparently unbeknownst to them, threatens their celebrityhood.
We saw this happen with actors Munmun Dutta and Yuvika Choudhary, both of whom were pulled up earlier this year for using casteist slurs. Events unfolded similarly both times: a stray use of an offensive on camera, followed by public outrage, followed by an apology claiming naivete.
Has the ease of offering social media apologies widened leg space for defaulting on basic civilities? When resources to educate and inform oneself are freely available in the public domain, can one justify their ignorance by passing it off as "not an attempt to insult"? In our collective pursuit of equality, how far does such casual elitism deter from the objective?
Sambhavna Seth Controversy: What Brand Of Humour Is Being Created Online?
Another deeply concerning angle in Seth's video was that the domestic help seemed reluctant to be a part of it. With sheepish laughter and self-constriction to the sidelines of the camera frame, the woman even tried to shield her face as Avinash focused attention on her. "Ye humlog ka bhasha hai," she repeated multiple times, as the celebrity couple cackled in the background.
Have we resorted to using fellow humans as props of humour? And what kind of humour, that comes at the expense of another's oppression and indignity? Is the clutter on social media allowing for more sexist, racist, abusive behaviours masked as 'content'? Does the entitlement of being a celebrity give them immunity from accountability to their actions?
As transient as the internet is, it also has a memory that never forgets. Once online, blunders, insensitivity, apologies, everything stays. This is especially useful in the case of controversies like the ones celebrities like Seth, Dutta or Choudhary have stirred in recent times.
The citizenry can hold them up to example of what public figures should not be allowed to get away with because they're always watching.
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