Deepika Padukone is always one to stand up for the causes she believes in — be it mental health or women’s empowerment. Last week, actor Sushant Singh Rajput died of suicide and was said to be battling depression. Having survived her own battle with the mental illness, Deepika stressed on the importance of caring for our mental health. Now, she has gone ahead and slammed a Bollywood paparazzi journalist for using Sushant’s videos on their platform without his family’s consent.
There were a lot of videos of Sushant’s last rites and other very personal and sensitive content that was shared extensively on social media. The paparazzi journalist also shared one such video and captioned it, “Please note my images and videos cannot be posted on any platforms without my written consent.” According to a report in the Hindustan Times, Deepika commented on the post saying, “Right. But it is OK for you to take this video and not only post it but also probably monetise it without his or his family’s written consent?”. A lot of fans and audiences on social media applauded her stand on the now-deleted post.
After Sushant’s passing, Deepika took to her Instagram to talk about how important it is for people living with mental illnesses to reach out and seek help.
Here’s her post:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CBavb9sj7Ew/?igshid=errq68yln4ps
In her efforts to speak for mental health awareness, Deepika recently partnered with Instagram and launched their new feature, Guides, in India. Read more about it here.