22 July,2023 04:23 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Sunny Leone at the Mid-day office
In our latest Sit With Hitlist episode, actress Sunny Leone fearlessly opened up about her encounters with trolls and bravely addressed the criticisms she faced from society. She also spoke about the infamous interview by a senior journalist back in 2016, which was quite an unpleasant experience for her. Sunny recalled she received a lot of support from the industry post the interview.
The unpleasant interview triggered an unexpected outpouring of love and support from influential figures in the film industry. Sunny gratefully shared, "Mr. Anil Kapoor was one of them, I think Hrithik Roshan was one of them, uh Sonam as well, there were a few people, and all of them just said, proud of you, be strong, in that type of zone and in that conversation." To her delight, Aamir Khan later affirmed his willingness to work with her. These uplifting words became a source of strength, fortifying her determination to stand tall in the face of trolls and naysayers.
The conversation then steered towards Sunny's remarkable approach to handling negativity and criticism on social media. Her candid response showcased a resilient attitude. She expressed, "Umm, there are certain things, yes, like if you had to peel back all of the safeguard I have up, yeah, of course, it hurts your feelings because you don't want people to say such rude, nasty things. But for the most part, I have broken it down as if they don't know me, I don't know them, they are entitled to say whatever they want, it is completely okay, and umm, and just leave it at that."
Sunny went on to eloquently elaborate on her perspective towards social media trolls, humorously noting, "So, I have this thing about social media and all these different people that talk shit, and for me, I am thinking, okay, they have taken their time, they have gone on to my social media page to write something nasty, and then what does that troll do afterwards? He doesn't leave my page, right? Who is the loser here?"
She continued with a confident demeanor, "Not just that, they are there on my page, they are adding to the Google searches, they are adding to... you know when you do like Sunny Leone analytics, it is amazing, so thank you for talking sh't. So, I kind of broke it down in my head like this, and you know I can't take what they say seriously. Because maybe they don't even take themselves seriously. Maybe they are so upset with their own lives, and they are unhappy people that they have to say something bad. They are not only saying it about me. They are saying it about so many people. They are working through the list."
Drawing a clever analogy, Sunny humorously explained, "It is like, we all know this either aunty or uncle has a call list and every day wherever they are sitting, they make their call list and they call and they chat with their friends and family and they make their way through their list. That is like trolling, you know, not the same, but their philosophy of going through the list of people they need to say bad things about. It is not just me; you can't take it personally."
Is she still the most searched person on Google? Sunny's response was filled with uncertainty, "I don't know." With a playful spirit, Sunny proposed an impromptu search, exclaiming, "Let's Google it!"
