On November 26, actress Uorfi Javed, who is popular for her social media presence and unconventional fashion sense, called out author Chetan Bhagat for his comments calling Uorfi a “distraction” for young boys. In a series of Instagram stories, Uorfi lashed out at Bhagat for his comments and shared his leaked chats from a few years ago that went viral during the MeToo campaign. Chetan Bhagat was accused of sexual misconduct by a journalist and later by controversial author and yoga instructor Ira Trivedi.
Chetan Bhagat’s comments to Uorfi
Aaj Tak invited Bhagat to ‘Sahitya Aaj Tak’ as ‘Motivational Writer’. The channel streamed his interview during the November 20 event. At the beginning of the interview, he praised the audience for coming to the event, saying that instead of watching OTT platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime and Ullu TV, people decided to watch authors at the event. He scoffed at the OTT platform Ullu TV, pointing out that laughing people in the audience knew about the platform.
Speaking about the content available on the internet, he said: “Phone has been a great distraction for the youth, especially the boys, who spend hours just looking at Instagram reels. They keep liking the pictures. There are pictures of Uorfi Javed. Look everyone knows who Uorfi Javed is. Why do you know that? Will it be part of a course? Are you going to tell in an interview that you know all of Uorfi Javed’s dresses? It’s not even Uorfi’s fault, because she tries to make her career. There are many more.”
He compared the followers of people like Uorfi to the soldiers on the border and said, ‘Some of the youth are on the Kargil border defending the nation. The other part of the youth is in the blanket and looks at pictures of Uorfi Javed.’ He went on to say that cheap data doesn’t mean mindlessly scrolling through social media roles.
Bhagat further added, “I don’t want to become the ‘uncle’ who gives ‘gyaan’. That’s why I spoke about Uorfi Javed to say ‘see we have also seen’. Today she wore a dress made from two telephones. Did you see it? Many have already seen it. It goes viral faster than the news.”
Uorfi Javed responded to Chetan’s comments
The author’s comments didn’t make much headlines or attract a response from Uorfi. However, after an op-ed in Firstpost in which the author called out Bhagat for the comments published on Nov. 25, it seems to have caught the attention of the actress. In a series of stories, Uorfi lashed out at Bhagat.
She wrote, “Guys let’s not forget how many women accused him during me too!!.”
Sharing a screenshot of the Firstpost opinion, she said, “Jab apni aadhi umar ki ladkiyo ko Instagram or WhatsApp me msg kar rahe the tab un ladkiyo k kapdo ne distract kiya tha na?”
She added: ‘Men like him will always blame the woman than accept their own shortcomings!! Just because you’re a pervert doesn’t mean it’s the girl’s fault or what she’s wearing! Dragging myself into a conversation unnecessarily, commenting on how my clothes distract young guys is such a stupid thing to say! Sending your messages to young girls isn’t a distraction for them, is it?’
She went on to say that it was not right to blame women for what they wear, and by making such remarks, Bhagat encouraged men to blame the women and their clothes. She said, ‘Stop promoting rape culture you idiots out there! Blaming women’s clothes for men’s behavior is so 80’s Mr Chetan Bhagat. Who distracted you when you texted girls half your age? Always blame the opposite sex and never accept your own shortcomings or mistakes! People like you deceive the youth, not me. Encouraging men to blame the woman or her clothes when they are in default.”
She also uploaded a video to her Instagram stories in which she said, “I don’t understand why there is a need to mention my name at a literature festival. I am not an author. You also said that youth is distracted by looking at my pictures. Leave that aside. First, tell me why you, who are twice your age, sent messages to girls half your age? Wasn’t that distracting? Was it not affecting your marriage and your children?
“My statement has been taken out of context,” Chetan Bhagat said
In a tweet quoting Firstpost, Bhagat claimed his statement was taken out of context by Firstpost. He said: “I’ve been telling guys to focus on fitness and their careers and not waste their time on Instagram. Apparently that’s not allowed! So they cut my statement, say it out of context, the headline adding things that I never said, and do a clickbait piece with ageism too. Of course.”
I told guys to focus on fitness and their careers and not waste their time on Instagram. Apparently that’s not allowed! So they cut my statement, said it out of context, headlined additions of things I never said and did a clickbait piece with ageism thrown in. Naturally. https://t.co/hD77zsjehC
— Chetan Bhagat (@chetan_bhagat) November 25, 2022
MeToo allegations against Chetan Bhagat
In October 2018, a journalist leaked chats allegedly sent by Chetan Bhagat where he “tried to woo her” and ignored her protest that he was married. Soon after, Bhagat released a statement on Facebook and apologized to the person. Later, the controversial author Ira Trivedi also accused him. Chetan issued a screenshot of an email sent by Ira in retaliation, after which she sent him a legal notice.
