Cobrapost exposes Bollywood celebs ready to tweet propaganda for cash

Cobrapost's founder Aniruddha Bahal on how he roped in Bollywood actors to secretly endorse political parties on social media, for cash in the sting Operation Karaoke

Bollywood and politics have often been accused of being strange bedfellows. In a development that sent shockwaves across the industry yesterday, investigative website Cobrapost alleged that "nearly three dozen" Bollywood stars were willing to secretly promote political parties on social media in exchange for cash. Dubbed as Operation Karaoke, the sting operation — videos of which were made public online — saw the reporters reach out to various celebrities, posing as managers from a fictitious PR agency.

Sunny Leone - Rs 75 lakh per month 90 per cent in cash

The operation that was apparently conducted last year saw Sunny Leone, Vivek Oberoi, Sonu Sood, Shreyas Talpade, Padma Shri awardee Kailash Kher and Mika Singh, among others, agreeing to accept their fee in cash, in exchange for posts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram endorsing the Central Government, BJP, and other political parties. The messages were to be shared over a period of eight months in the run-up to the general elections.

Vivek Oberoi - Rs 80 lakh per month 85 per cent in cash

Talking to mid-day, Cobrapost editor Aniruddha Bahal said that the idea germinated early last year: "The reporters came up with the idea as they were listening to a lot of anecdotal evidence regarding this phenomenon."

Shakti Kapoor - Rs 75 lakh per month 90 per cent in cash

Question him why they didn't put A-list stars under the scanner, he says, "We met them mostly through agents who had briefed actors beforehand. So we went where the agents took us. We weren't targeting anybody. The fees were fixed and nearly all of them agreed to a black money arrangement. Many of them wanted money in advance before meeting."

Rohit Roy - Rs 30 lakh per month 90 per cent in cash

Vidya Balan, Arshad Warsi, Saumya Tandon and Raza Murad turned the offer down.

Baba Sehgal - Rs 2 Lakh (plus GST) per tweet

Reacting to the news, Sunny Leone said, "I am not campaigning for any political party, unlike the news that’s circulated talking about me doing so...In regards to discussion with anyone, being a free citizen I am entitled to do so as I am approached weekly for many different agendas by many different people. We engage and listen to everyone. If I choose to promote anything political, I would choose things I only believe in. As of now, I have not posted or expressed any political viewpoint as can be seen on my social media. (sic)."

Aniruddha Bahal

Sonu Sood said, "What was discussed has been wrongly reproduced and projected. This is a clear case of sabotage... In the video too, I had stated that I won’t demean any party or promote anything which is not right or not true. (sic)"

When contacted Koena Mitra, she said, "Last April, two men came home saying they were representing the central government and wanted to discuss an endorsement. They said they got in touch with me since my posts are pro-BJP. They wanted to pay me for endorsing BJP campaigns like Swacch Bharat, Saaf Ganga and Beti Bachao. When I said that I was doing it for free, they said they wanted me on board officially and pay me for that. Why wouldn’t I say yes to promote one of my favourite brands? [In the video], they have edited their questions and retained only my answers. They are trying to attack the PM, and trying to prove that people who are supporting our PM are taking money. They have created a script to malign the central government and us."

- As told to Upala KBR

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