The story of actor Saurabh Verma is going viral on social media. He apparently turned down the controversial perfume ad series which has been taken down after the accusation of promoting 'gang rape culture'. Earlier in June's first week, the two ads of perfume brand Layer Shot sparked outrage among a large section of social media users, who claimed the advertisements sought to promote sexual violence against women. Many actors including Priyanka Chopra Jonas., Hrithik Roshan, Richa Chadha and Farhan Akhtar had also criticised the advertisement when it came into the light.
Actor turned down the controversial ad
Saurabh is now going viral on social media after it has been made evident that he refused to feature in the ad series as one of the performers. Abbas Mirza shared the story of his actor friend Saurabh Verma who politely refused to do the ad as he found it “derogatory and demeaning to women". Screenshots from Saurabh’s chat with the casting agent for the ad were also shared by Abbas.
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The post regarding Saurabh demanding script change and eventually turning down the project is going viral on social media. Internet users are hailing Saurabh for not toeing the line for the sake of money, especially when it came to women's safety.
The controversial ad series was taken down
The Information and Broadcasting Ministry asked Twitter and YouTube to remove the videos of the advertisements from their social media platforms. In letters to Twitter and YouTube, the ministry had said the videos were "detrimental to the portrayal of women in the interest of decency and morality" and in violation of Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code).
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