Priyanka Chopra has been accused of “encouraging nuclear war” over her stance on the on-going India-Pakistan conflict.
The Baywatch actress – who was born in India, before moving to the US as a teenager – appeared at a panel discussion at cosmetics event BeautyCon in Los Angeles this weekend.
During the Q&A section, things veered off-topic when an audience member brought up comments Priyanka had made on social media regarding the conflict between India and Pakistan, over the much-disputed region of Kashmir.
After being handed the mic, the woman – who later identified herself as Ayesha Malik on Twitter – said: “It was kind of hard hearing you talk about humanity, because as your neighbour, a Pakistani, I know you’re a bit of a hypocrite.”
Malik then brought up a tweet posted by Priyanka in February, which read “Jai Hind #IndianArmedForces”, meaning “victory to India”.
“You are a Unicef ambassador for peace and you’re encouraging nuclear war against Pakistan,” she said. “There’s no winner in this. As a Pakistani, millions of people like me have supported you in your business of Bollywood.”
As the microphone was snatched away, Priyanka asked whether Malik was “done venting”, beginning: “Got it? Done? Okay, cool.”
She added: “War is not something that I’m really fond of, but I am patriotic… but I think that all of us have a sort of middle ground that we all have to walk.
“The way you came at me right now, girl, don’t yell. We’re all here for love. Don’t yell. Don’t embarrass yourself.”
The exchange was captured on camera, and has since been circulated on social media, including on Malik’s Twitter page, where she also elaborated on her comments.
In a string of tweets, she wrote: “It was hard listening to her say, ‘we should be neighbors and love each other’ — swing that advice over to your PM. Both India and Pakistan were in danger. And instead she tweeted out in favor for nuclear war [sic].
“It took me back to when I couldn’t reach my family because of the blackouts and how scared/helpless I was. [Priyanka] gaslit me and turned the narrative around on me being the ‘bad guy’ — as a UN ambassador this was so irresponsible.”
Referring to Priyanka asking her whether she was done “venting”, Malik also noted: “I didn’t realise that speaking on a humanitarian crisis was ‘venting’.”
Priyanka is yet to address the exchange, but did previously post about having enjoyed BeautyCon on her Instagram story.
HuffPost UK has contacted Priyanka’s representatives for additional comment.
