Preity Zinta Shares Post On Being Harassed, Priyanka Chopra, Hrithik Roshan, Arjun Rampal And Others Come Out In Support

Preity took to social media on Saturday to describe how a stranger attempted to take a photo of her daughter Gia. She later "planted a big wet kiss" just near to Gia's mouth.

New Delhi: Bollywood celebrities enjoy huge popularity and fandom but sometimes, they also have to face some untoward incidents that put their and their family's security at risk. Recently, actress Preity Zinta, who is currently in Mumbai with her kids Gia and Jai, faced something similar, twice. Preity took to social media on Saturday to describe how a stranger attempted to take a photo of her daughter Gia. She later "planted a big wet kiss" just near to Gia's mouth. Preity also mentioned how a "handicapped man kept trying to stop" her for money.

Preity shared a paparazzi video where she can be seen leaving in her car as a wheelchair bound man approaches her. The actress got trolled for being insensitive and getting away in her car despite the man following her for quite some distance. 

Reacting to the trolls and justifying her action, Preity wrote a long note along with the video that she shared. She wrote, "2 events this week have left me a bit shaken.1 regarding my daughter Gia-where a woman tried to take her photo. When we politely asked her not to she walked away, then suddenly scooped my daughter in her arms & planted a big wet kiss next to her mouth & ran off saying what a cute baby.This woman lives in an elite building & happened to be in the garden where my kids were playing.If I wasn’t a celebrity I probably would have reacted badly but kept my cool as I didn’t want to make a scene."

She added further, "U can see the 2nd incident here.I had a plane to catch & this handicapped man kept trying to stop me.Over the years he has harassed me for money & I have given it to him when I could.This time when he asked for money I said sorry today I have no cash, just a credit card.The lady with me gave him some money from her purse. He threw it back at her cuz it wasn’t enough & started getting aggressive.As u can see he followed us for some time & got more aggressive."

"The photographers found this incident funny. Instead of helping us they filmed & laughed. NO ONE told him not to follow the car or harass us as anyone could have gotten hurt. Had there been an accident, I would have been blamed.My being a celebrity would have been questioned. Bollywood would have been blamed & a lot of negativity would have spread," she said.

She added, "I think it’s high time people realise that I’m a human being first,then a mom & then a celebrity. I also don’t need to apologise for my success constantly & be bullied for it cuz I’ve worked very hard to get where I am. I have an equal right like anyone else in this country to live the way I want so please think before you judge & please stop blaming celebrities for everything.There are always 2 sides to a story."

"Most importantly my children are NOT part of a package deal & are not meant to be preyed on so please Leave my kids alone & don’t come to them for photos or touch/grab them. They are infants & need to be treated like infants,not celebrities," she wrote.

Preity concluded her post with a strong message for the paparazzi as she wrote, "I sincerely hope that the photographers that ask us for photos,videos & sound bytes also have the grace,humanity & maturity to act & help in the future instead of filming & laughing cuz most of the time it’s not funny."

See the post here:

Reacting to the post, Hrithik Roshan commented, "❤️ Well done Pree" Arjun Rampal said, "Next time give me a call will sort them out. ❤️" Malaika Arora wrote, "U said it out loud n clear 🙌"

Priyanka Chopra also commented on Preity's post with "🙌👏😮" emojis. Lilly Singh's comment read, "Good on you for standing up for yourself. I know that can be hard. But it’s important and true."

Preity Zinta lives in Los Angeles, US with her husband Gene Goodenough and their kids- Gia and Jai.