Actress Priyanka Chopra sparked a wave of reactions on social media after opening up about her experience in the Hindi film industry and calling it 's**t' during a recent podcast. The global star, who
has built a strong presence in Hollywood over the years, spoke about why she chose to explore opportunities outside Bollywood.
Priyanka is busy with the promotions of her latest Hollywood project, The Bluff, which premiered on Prime Video on February 25. She recently appeared on Not Skinny But Not Fat hosted by Amanda Hirsch. During the conversation, she opened up about the factors that pushed her to try her luck in Hollywood.
Recalling her mindset at the time, Priyanka said, “When I was working back in India, I started feeling limited. I wanted to be able to see what else was out there. Besides Mindy Kaling and Aishwarya Rai, there were very few female or male Indian actors in Hollywood. And I was like why don’t we have that representation. It made me think of myself as that girl who was in the 9th grade in America, where nobody looks like me. I didn’t think about it (much) at that time, but as someone who was starting to seek work in Hollywood, I thought where do I stand? How do I begin? It came from the need to want and see what the possibilities were there.”
She further spoke about challenges she encountered during her career in Bollywood. “Nothing is an easy ride. We all have battles that we have to handle. I am someone who just doesn’t like staying in the s**t because then you get used to the smell. I am a big believer in pivoting. When life gets tough, we are so resilient as human beings; we have the ability to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, take a minute to feel emotional and feel the pain, and then pivot.”
Her comments went viral online, with several social media users criticising the actress. Some accused her of being a “hypocrite” and alleged that she was disrespecting the industry that made her a star while speaking to Western media. A section of users also speculated that the remarks surfaced around the time she is reportedly associated with a project involving director SS Rajamouli and actor Mahesh Babu.
However, many of Priyanka’s supporters came to her defence, arguing that her words were being taken out of context. Fans pointed out that she has previously spoken about facing difficulties and being sidelined in Bollywood.
Netizens react to PeeCee's statement
Reacting to her statement, a user wrote on Reddit, "Why are you constantly trying to make a comeback then if Bollywood is shit and it stinks? And you know what? I have no problem with her calling out the wrong she thinks she faced at the hands of Bollywood people but to pretend that Hollywood is better? Draw a line somewhere, no amount of sucking up to them is gonna change the fact that they are the same exact shit, if not worse."
"And she was recently crying about how Hollywood is racist towards her," wrote another user.
" lets not forget she was a part of creating the shit. she constantly went after married men so she only got the consequences of her actions. and yes before yall have a go at me the married men are obviously responsible too, opined another user. < p fetchpriority="low" loading="lazy">
"Sour grapes syndrome," read another comment.
Another user wrote, "Seems like Priyanka is trying to please white supremacists into accepting her as a Hollywood actress."
Here's how others reacted:
