Preity Zinta, who recently returned to India to attend the ongoing Mahakumbh in Prayagraj, has hit back at the Congress, accusing them of spreading “malicious gossip.” Reacting to claims by the Kerala Congress that she secured a Rs 18-crore loan waiver from the financially troubled New India Cooperative Bank in exchange for handing over her social media accounts to the BJP, the actor dismissed the allegations as baseless. She clarified that the loan had been fully repaid over a decade ago.
On Monday, the Kerala Congress’ X handle reposted a news report, alleging, “She gave her social media accounts to BJP and got 18 Cr written off and the bank collapsed last week… Depositors are on the streets for their money.” See the tweet here…
https://twitter.com/INCKerala/status/1894035136569622690
Responding on Tuesday, Zinta emphasized that she personally manages her social media accounts and accused the Congress of propagating “false news.”
She wrote on Twitter, “No I operate my social media accounts my self and shame on you for promoting FAKE NEWS ! No one wrote off anything or any loan for me. I’m shocked that a political party or their representative is promoting fake news & indulging in vile gossip & click baits using my name & images (sic).”
Clarifying that a loan had been taken but was fully repaid, she stated, “For the record a loan was taken and FULLY PAID BACK – over 10 years ago. Hope this clarifies and helps so there are no misunderstandings in the future.”
The Kerala Congress’ post now includes a community note stating, “Preity Zinta has clarified via her Twitter handle that this is false,” along with a link to her statement.
An hour later, Ms. Zinta took to X once more, criticizing journalist Sucheta Dalal, co-founder of Moneylife, which was among the first to report the alleged loan write-off. The actor also declared that she was done “being the bigger person.”
Zinta tweeted, ”So much misinformation going around but thank god for social media and thank god for X ! All through my career I have seen so many so respected journalists get so many stories completely wrong & never have the decency to correct the story or apologise. I have also gone to court and spent a tonne of money fighting cases that go on & on & on. I think it’s time we start holding them responsible right here so there is some accountability in the future. I’m definitely going to start naming all these journalists that write articles without following up or investigating the stories. If you don’t value my reputation then sorry I don’t value yours @suchetadalal Next time pls call me and find out if the story is true or not before mentioning my name. Just like you, I have spent years working hard and building a reputation so if you don’t care about mine I don’t care about yours. I’m done being a bigger person. This ends here.” See the tweet below…
It makes one think about how easily misinformation spreads, especially online. Like, how do we even know what’s true anymore? And how much of this is just people trying to use celebrity names for clicks? It’s a mess. Anyone else have any thoughts? It’s just crazy how quickly a story like this can blow up. Well, we are on your team PZ!
