New Delhi: Celebrities and netizens have criticised Poonam Pandey for faking her death to create awareness about cervical cancer. On Friday, an announcement was posted on her Instagram account stating that the actor had died due to cervical cancer, shocking everyone. All of it turned out to be a stunt pulled out by Pandey. She posted a video on Instagram saying that she is alive and the intention behind the antic was to create awareness about cervical cancer.
Many celebrities and internet users have called out the actor for this and called her stunt "disgraceful”, “ridiculous”.
Pooja Bhatt, who had posted on Friday about Poonam’s death, wrote on Twitter, "I never delete tweets but did so in the case where I expressed my shock at news of Poonam Pandey’s demise due to cervical cancer. Why? Turns out the news was engineered by a digital/PR team. Absolute disgrace & disservice to those battling the same-her included."
TV actor Goni wrote, "F***ing cheap publicity stunt it was nothing else.. u guys think it’s funny ? U and ur PR team should be boycotted I swear.. bloody losers and to all the media portals we people here trust u that’s y we believed it.. shame on u all (sic)."
Nikki Tamboli said, "Absolute cheapness! It's disheartening to witness the depths some individuals will sink to for a momentary spotlight. Faking one's death, especially in the context of a serious illness like cancer, is not just tasteless but downright disrespectful. It trivialises the very real struggles that millions face worldwide and breaks the trust of those who genuinely care. Let's not reward such attention-seeking behavior with our attention."
Actor Kushal Tandon wrote on Instagram story, "How stupid and how lame it is to fake your death. It's sad, and alarming, I think it will be right to put the person and there entire pr team behind the bars to set an example for the future, for no nonsense, fake news mumbaipolice # poonam Pandey and an alarm to media houses to always check the reality of a situation first hand and then post on the ur news forums, authenticity check plz.”
Sherlyn Chopra wrote on X, "Height of shamelessness & insensitivity!!!"
Rakhi Sawant also posted a video on Instagram and said in Hindi,"Are you mad? Who does this kind of publicity? You played with the fans, media and with my heart. And then you say you're alive. Who plays such kind of dirty pranks?" she said.
Singer Rahul Vaidya took to Instagram and story and posted a video and said, "Everybody who is now saying oh my God Poonam Pandey has such bad publicity, so cheap... guys you are so stupid.. that's what they want.. this is the plan of the campaign."
"They want people to get shocked and react so ignore it.. I have known Poonam, met her one or two times, she is a nice girl, I don't know who suggested her this firstly, secondly, I know her PR very well, she is very close to me, so I won't say anything bad about her....So please stop it now. This is a part of the campaign, have some sense," added Rahul in the video.
Actor Urvashi Dholakia took to her Instagram Stories and said: "This is the lowest advertising and marketing could stoop to! Yes, cervical cancer is an important subject to be educated upon but this publicity stunt was downright disgusting!!"
Apart from celebrities, netizens too criticised Poonam and called out Poonam for the death hoax.
A user wrote, “Using sensational marketing to gain attention, especially by exploiting health issues, is wrong. It's crucial to be responsible and empathetic in our communication. Let's discourage such tactic prioritize ethical marketing.”
"Whoever crafted the Poonam Pandey campaign, must know that the message that comes out is that people don’t die of cervical cancer," Gabbar, Co-founder of JoinHoodApp, wrote on X.
“I have lost my father to cancer. Till his last breath he wanted to live. This stunt by #PoonamPandey is simply not insensitive but also a cruel joke to one and all who are battling cancer everyday in hope for one extra day of life. This is no way you create #cervicalcancerawareness . She used death for PR & marketting. Death can never do the marketting for Life. Shame on you Poonam,” another user commented.