Actor Vivek Oberoi on Monday faced intense social media backlash, including by fellow actors who called him out for posting a "disgusting" distasteful Twitter meme, which likened the exit poll results to his past relationship with actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. The actor has now been issued a notice by National Commission of Women (NCW).
The women's commission said it will also approach Twitter to take down the offensive tweet.
Rekha Sharma, NCW chairperson said: "We would like him (Vivek Oberoi) to apologise on social media and personally also to the person concerned. If he doesn't do, we will see what legal action we can take against him. We will be talking to Twitter to remove that tweet immediately.
Earlier Sharma had posted on her social media handle: "This tweet is absolutely Disgusting, distasteful, and degrading women. @NCWIndia will be serving notice to @vivekoberoi."
Earlier today, Vivek posted a collage of three images featuring himself, Aishwarya, Salman Khan, Abhishek Bachchan, and Aishwarya's seven-year-old daughter Aaradhya.
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The post referred to Salman and Aishwarya's relationship as the 'opinion poll', Vivek and Aishwarya's affair as the 'exit poll' and her current family with husband Abhishek and daughter Aaradhya as the 'final result.'
Reacting to his tweet, Vijaya Rahatkar, chief of Maharashtra State Commission of Women told ANI that the commission has taken cognizance of actor Vivek Oberoi's tweet on exit polls and a "notice is being issued to him."
While the actor might have posted the tweet assuming it to be funny, Twitterverse did not share his feeling and there was an explosion of outrage targeted at him.
Fellow actor Sonam Kapoor lashed out at Oberoi terming him "disgusting and classless."
"This is in such poor taste.. ones personal life is not to be discussed here.. remember there are 4 individuals who are father/ mother/ brother /sister .. and everyone has moved on .. shame," a user commented on the post.
Comparing the way Salman addresses Aishwarya in public with Vivek's tweet, a user wrote, "One there is Salman Khan who doesn't event take Aishwarya's name without her full name (i.e. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan) and then there is Vivek Oberoi who is so shameless that he is not only sharing such a disrespectful meme but also dragging a minor into this. Shame on you."
"Extremely absurd of you to tweet this!! Disappointing!," wrote another.
Another user wrote, "You tweeting this pic is a sign that Aishwarya made a sensible decision."
"This is disgusting...She has a daughter now and is living a happily married life. A fan of vivek oberoi but this is disgusting," another user commented.
Calling the tweet disgusting and disappointing many asked the actor to take the tweet down and apologise.
Vivek is currently awaiting the release of his film, 'PM Narendra Modi', a biopic on the life of India's Prime Minister. After many delays, the biopic is finally set to release on May 24.
Calling the tweet disgusting and disappointing many asked the actor to take the tweet down and apologise.