After a video featuring Jim Sarbh saying “I’d rather be raped by 12 prostitutes” went viral, the actor says his comments were taken out of context as he has never condoned any form of sexual violence.
“I do not now nor have I ever condoned any form of sexual violence. This (video) has been picked out of context without a prelude where I am actually enacting parts of a play which is a dark satire,” the Bollywood actor said. “The piece I was seen delivering in the video is about a priest blowing a very casual question completely out of proportion, condemning alcohol, prostitutes and rape all simultaneously.
“I personally do not find it to be about a desire to rape, or to inflict sexual violence upon another, but a subversive and comedic response to an extremely volatile sentence.”
In a video that surfaced late on Thursday, Sarbh is seen acting some line in a private environment at an after-party event at the 71st Cannes Film Festival.
“I’d rather be raped by 12 prostitutes than touch alcohol and the Punjabi says ‘Me too, I didn’t know that was an option’,” the video shows the actor saying.
As Sarbh completes his ‘joke’, actress Kangana Ranaut, who is seen standing next to him, is seen cracking up along with the rest of the party.
The Neerja actor says he understands the environment that “we live in just now, in light of recent events, but more frankly, in light of events going on since the beginning of human consciousness, rape is a deadly serious issue.
“I treat it as such. I did not intend to hurt anybody, and I certainly do not consider actual sexual or physical violence funny,” he said.
Sarbh, who was lauded for his performance as slave general Malik Kafur in Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmaavat, is currently shooting in the US.
