Celebrities slam Poonam Pandey's fake death hoax, call it 'worst PR stunt'

Model and controversial star Poonam Pandey left everyone in shock and anger after she faked her death as part of a promotional strategy to draw people's attention to cervical cancer. On Friday, her manager, in a statement, revealed that Poonam had sadly passed away due to cervical cancer.

The post read, "This morning is a tough one for us. Deeply saddened to inform you that we have lost our beloved Poonam to cervical cancer. Every living form that ever came in contact with her was met with pure love and kindness. In this time of grief, we would request for privacy while we remember her fondly for all that we shared."

A day after the announcement of her fake death, which made her name and cervical cancer trend all over social media, Poonam shared a video of her, clarifying that she staged her death only to spread awareness about cervical cancer.

Poonam Pandey goes LIVE after death stunt, says 'I'm feeling terrible'

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In the video, she says, "I am sorry I have caused this tear and I am sorry to those whom I've hurt. My intension to shock everyone into the conversation we are not talking enough about, which is cervical cancer. Yes, I faked my demise.
Extreme, I know. But suddenly, we all are talking about cervical cancer. Aren't we? It is a disease that silently takes your life and this disease needed this spotlight urgently. I am proud of what my death news has managed to achieve."

Soon after Poonam Pandey came alive and well in front of the world, a flurry of mixed reactions started emerging from celebrities and netizens who slammed the actor, saying it was a "worst publicity stunt ever." While there was a section of netizens who made fun of Poonam's hoax.

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Without mentioning Pandey's name, director Vivek Agnihotri wrote, ''With the emerging challenges of SM, I think there should be some regulations, specially, for the newsmakers and those who call themselves influencers. Normalising sensationalism and gimmicks is dangerous. Fake death news is just the beginning. Aage aage dekho hota hai kya.''

Calling it cheap, television actor Aly Goni wrote on his social media handle, "Fu*ing cheap publicity stunt it was nothing else.. u guys think it’s funny ? U and ur PR team should be boycotted I swear.. bloody losers and to all the media portals we people here trust u that’s y we believed it.. shame on u all.."

Ranbir Kapoor's sister Riddhima Kapoor Sahni commented on Poonam's video, "Insensitive campaign! All time low!"

Netizens Reactions -

Much like the celebrities, netizens shared their anger. One user wrote, ''So Poonam Pandey had faked her death. Clarifies on Instagram. This is Beyond Shameless.''

Another wrote, ''Yes yes! Poonam Pandey is alive. But using a serious issue like cervical cancer for cheap PR is absolutely disgraceful.''