Bollywood actress and brand ambassador for Arsenal, Esha Gupta recently got into a controversy for her alleged racist comments against Nigerian forward Alex Iwobi.
Just weeks after Indian cricketer Hardik Pandya was suspended for his controversial remarks on Koffee With Karan, his alleged former girlfriend Esha Gupta landed in trouble as well. The social media on Monday was abuzz over a snapshot of a Whatsapp conversation that Esha shared on her Instagram stories. The conversation criticised Iwobi for his performance.
In the conversation, Esha’s friend called Iwobi a “gorilla” and said that “evolution stopped for him”. He even said that the footballer did not change from “neanderthal to man”.
To that, Esha laughed and replied: “Haha… I don’t know why they don’t bench him more.”
How do you feel about an Arsenal brand ambassador making these racist comments about an Arsenal Academy graduate? @Arsenal pic.twitter.com/Dfcpvl58mF
— Chris (@LondonGoona) January 27, 2019
She quickly deleted the image from her profile when she realised her mistake, but the screenshot was already shared by netzians.
After the backlash, Esha took to Twitter to apologise.
Esha did not realise it was directed towards racism, she tweeted, “Guys I am sorry you thought it was racist. Was bad on my part, being a sports lover. Wallah never meant it. Sorry guys, forgive the stupidity.”
Guys m sorry you thought it was racist. Was bad on my part, being a sports lover. Wallah never meant it. Sorry guys forgive the stupidity ?? #gooner4life
— Esha Gupta (@eshagupta2811) January 27, 2019
She added, “It was us discussing our frustration during the game.sorry as I din realise it directed towards racism.laughed over the spur of the moment, which was the games result guys.been victim of racism myself before. But this is not something m proud of. It was a fault,sorry guys.”
It was us discussing our frustration during the game.sorry as I din realise it directed towards racism.laughed over the spur of the moment, which was the games result guys.been victim of racism myself before. But this is not something m proud of. It was a fault,sorry guys
— Esha Gupta (@eshagupta2811) January 27, 2019
Even after the apology, Twitterati did not feel that it was heartfelt and criticised the actor.
@Arsenal sort our ambassador out ffs
— NoMoreBanterEra (@LordyGonner) January 27, 2019
Your response is embarrassing! You state on one hand you’ve suffered racism yet on the other have no idea that you’ve made a racial slur! Your ignorance and arrogance of this whole situation is beyond words! Please remove gooner from your profile! Your not part of our club/family
— Keiron Batchelor (@keiron85) January 27, 2019
Thought? It was racist.
— Hunkleberry Finn (@HunkleberryFinn) January 27, 2019
What on earth does “directed towards racism” mean?
— Gingers for Limpar (@Gingers4Limpar) January 27, 2019
In 2017, the 33-year-old actress had opened up about facing racist comments in India and said she was often referred to as “Kaali” (dark) due to her complexion.
