Bhabiji row: Shilpa Shinde labels women who didn't assist her as 'nonsense'

Actor Shilpa Shinde has said women who did not support her during her dispute with the makers of Bhabiji Ghar Par Hain! were 'nonsense' and were only accusing her instead of helping her. Her remarks came days after she admitted that the sexual harassment allegations she had earlier made against producer Sanjay Kohli were false.

The admission triggered strong criticism, including from actor Hina Khan, but Shinde said she still stood by her response at the time because it was tied to her self-respect.

In an interview with Zoom, Shinde said the women who spoke against her did not understand what women go through in difficult situations.

"They are nonsense. Those women are nonsense. They don't understand the kind of situations women face. They don't assist those who are genuinely struggling. If they had offered help back then, I wouldn't have found myself in this predicament. They were just criticising me. They only accused me of leaving that show. I never compromise with my self-respect,' she said.

She also defended what she had done at the time by saying, 'They don't know anything about this. Why they were saying it? I don't know. Discrediting him was my only option. I am not wrong. I am just guilty of being untruthful. It was a response because they had also discredited me.'

More about Shilpa Shinde-Hina Khan feud

The controversy goes back to Shinde's long-running dispute with the makers of Bhabiji Ghar Par Hain!. On Bharti Singh and Haarsh Limbachiyaa's podcast, she said she had filed the sexual harassment complaint because she felt she had no other option then. She also said the matter was later settled and that her pending payments were cleared. Those remarks led the men's rights body, NCMIndia Council for Men's Affairs, to seek action from the Mumbai Police.

After Shinde's admission became public, several actresses, including Hina Khan, criticised the Bigg Boss 11 winner and called for action. Hina said she was 'in disbelief' that some women were still supporting such an 'absurd and lowly action' even after an admission. Calling it a crime, she asked people to think about what could have happened if the victim had died by suicide out of embarrassment or if his marriage had broken down.

Hina later shared a sarcastic post addressed to the Prime Minister, the President and the Law Minister. In it, she said that criminals who confessed after committing crimes should be released because they had the courage to admit it and because nobody had supported them when they committed the crime. The post appeared to be a response to both Shinde's admission and the reactions defending her.

Shinde then posted an Instagram video in which she appeared to take a veiled swipe at Hina. Without naming her, Shinde referred to Hina's breast cancer diagnosis and the death of her father while accusing people of using her name for publicity.

"I do not know when people will stop gaining publicity in my name," Shinde said, before adding, "To gain publicity, you have your illnesses, you have deaths in your family, so why do you need Shilpa Shinde?"

After Shilpa faced trolling for her comments, Hina asked her followers not to reply with hatred.