Neha Dhupia, in a recent podcast conducted by Durex and hosted by Abhay Deol, has clarified her stance on the “It’s her choice” incident, which happened during Karan Kapoor’s audition for Roadies 17 in 2020.

What was the incident?

During a Roadies season 17 audition, a male contestant, Karan Kapoor, tried to justify a beating that he gave to his girlfriend because he found out that she was cheating on him with five other guys.

To that male contestant, Karan Kapoor, Neha replied, “Whatever you are saying that she went on with five other guys, it’s her choice. You haven’t tied this whole person down and say that I am in a relationship with you, so I’ll do all this stuff if you go and cheat. Maybe the problem lies with you; check yourself first. If she is going on with other guys, maybe she is feeling threatened by you. Maybe you are not providing physically, mentally, emotionally, or whatever she needed.”

After this episode was aired, Neha received a barrage of criticism from netizens who blamed her for considering cheating as a part of ultimate freedom and choice for a woman.

Neha Dhupia’s Clarification about the Incident on “The Durex Podcast”

Neha opines that her words “It’s her choice” were not understood by the people at that time in the right context and that the incident caused immense trouble, not only for her but also for her friends and family.

“It’s been 8 years. Whatever I say, or if I go wrong anywhere, everywhere, like all the trolls are like “It’s her choice”, “It’s his choice” because nobody understood the context but I feel as a woman, the context that I was trying to set is that its a woman’s choice. She’s allowed to have choices, and that is the ultimate definition of freedom,” Neha said during the podcast.

People called it “Fake Feminism” at that time

The public reaction at that time to Neha Dhupia about Fake Feminism was also in context with an incident in Season 16, where a girl by the name of Preety Solan, a fitness instructor, auditioned and revealed that she had slapped many of her ex-boyfriends.

The reaction from the judges was the polar opposite of what they did to Karan Kapoor. Neha Dhupia could be seen smiling shyly while Prince Narula was joyfully asking the girl whether she enjoyed slapping her ex-boyfriends. Rannvijay asked her to recreate the act by hitting the ball. You can find footage of it in Season 16, Episode 7, around the 25th minute timestamp.

Why Neha Dhupia and the judges didn’t bother to take a serious stance when Preeti Solan confessed to slapping her ex-boyfriends is something that only they can know.

After the Karan Kapoor audition went viral, the criticism that Neha received at that time was largely due to the fact that she highlighted the violence committed by Karan but did not utter a word during that audition itself to condemn the act of cheating done by the girl.

Later on Twitter, she clarified that cheating is not something she stands for, but termed it as a “moral choice”; however, the damage was done by that time, and people were criticising her left, right, and center for her remark.

There are plenty of public reaction videos on that incident and a large majority of people felt that while Neha Dhupia did the right thing in scolding the male contestant for physical violence, she should have also discouraged the cheating part during the audition, which was done by the girl. By saying “It’s her choice,” it came across as if she was defending infidelity, rather than condemning violence.

Throughout the entire Karan’s interview footage, which lasted around 12 minutes, Neha did not highlight or discourage the cheating act of the girl, who dated five guys as per Karan Kapoor’s revelation. But Neha Dhupia displayed a quiet smile in Season 16 when Preeti Solan told her about slapping her exes.

In the Durex podcast, talking about the same incident, Neha addressed that people failed to understand the context of her statement, “It’s her Choice,” which she replied in that audition round.

However, from her clarification in the Durex Podcast, it appears that Neha Dhupia still hasn’t grasped the core reason for the outrage received at that time.