Jiiva says sexual abuses happens ‘only in Kerala’, not Tamil film industry; Chinmayi Sripada calls him out

3 months ago | 27 Views

Actor Jiiva is under fire for a recent comment he made at an event in Chennai. According to India Today, he denied instances of sexual harassment in Kollywood when asked about the Hema Committee report that brought out cases of exploitation in Mollywood and later lost his cool at a reporter. Singer Chinmayi Sripada called him out on his statement.

Jiiva’s statement on sexual harassment in Kollywood

A video of Jiiva engaging in a physical and verbal scuffle with a reporter at an event is doing rounds on X (formerly Twitter). When initially asked about the Hema Committee report, the actor said that ‘he heard about it’ and said, “We had #MeToo part 1, and now part 2 has come. Now, people are openly naming them (abusers). It’s wrong. We should have a healthy atmosphere in cinema.”

When prodded further, Jiiva refused to answer questions to maintain a ‘good atmosphere’ at the event. He even said, “I’ve already replied to this, I can’t keep replying again and again. Such issues don’t happen in the Tamil industry; they only happen in Kerala.” Jiiva also asked the reporter if they had sense, which led to a scuffle.

Chinmayi, who has been vocal about instances of sexual harassment in the Tamil film industry and has in the past even detailed her alleged abuse at the hands of lyricist Vairamuthu shared Jiiva’s clip on X writing, “I really do not understand how they are saying sexual harassment does not exist in Tamil Industry. HOW?!”

This comes a day after Rajinikanth spoke to the media at the airport and when asked about the Hema Committee report, said, “I don’t know. I don’t know anything about that. Sorry.”

The Justice K Hema Committee report

The Justice K Hema Committee was constituted by the Kerala government after the 2017 assault case of a female actor. Its report revealed instances of harassment and exploitation of women in the Malayalam cinema industry. Since then, numerous actors have come out to accuse actors and directors like Siddique and Ranjith of sexual harassment and abuse.