Poonam Pandey's fake death stunt in order to draw attention to cervical cancer has triggered a huge controversy. It has led to the All Indian Cine Workers Association calling for legal action against the model-actor.
Now, Schbang, the agency responsible for the campaign led by Poonam Pandey, has issued a public apology on social media. The apology post read as, “Yes, we were involved in the initiative for Poonam Pandey to spread awareness about Cervical Cancer in collaboration with Hauterfly. To start off, we would like to extend a heartfelt apology – especially towards those who have been triggered as a result of having faced/ having a loved one face the hardships of any kind of Cancer.”
With the post, the post clarified that the move was taken to raise awareness about cervical cancer due to alarming statistics in India. “Our actions were driven by a singular mission – to elevate awareness about Cervical Cancer. In 2022, India registered 123,907 Cervical Cancer cases and 77,348 deaths. After Breast Cancer, Cervical Cancer is the second-most frequent malignancy affecting middle aged women in India,” the post read further.
Sharing how Poonam Pandey’s mother had battled cancer, the post added, “Many of you may be unaware but Poonam’s own mother has bravely battled Cancer. Having been through the challenges of battling a disease like this at such close personal quarters, she understands the importance of prevention and the criticality of awareness, especially when a vaccine is available. There was no change in people’s curiosity regarding Cervical Cancer when our Honourable Finance Minister mentioned it no less than a few days ago during the Union Budget. This act by Poonam has now resulted in making ‘Cervical Cancer’ and its related terms the most searched topic(s) on Google. This is the first time in the history of this country that the word ‘Cervical Cancer’ has been on 1000+ Headlines.”
Lastly, the agency, in its statement, ended up saying that the team is ‘deeply apologetic’, and stated, ‘We understand that our methods may have sparked debate about the approach. While we regret any distress caused, if the move results in spreading much needed awareness and preventing deaths, that would be its real impact.”
“We want to clarify that this is a pro-bono activity and not commercially linked to any client. This is a Cancer for which 93% of cases are preventable according to the USCDC via a vaccine and everything we do is in service of this being prevented. We hope that the start of this conversation serves as a catalyst for raising life saving awareness about not only Cervical Cancer, but all preventable diseases,” it concluded.
For the unversed, Poonam Pandey’s ‘death’ news was shared on her official Instagram handle on Friday, February 2. But on February 3, just a day later, the model-actor posted a video of herself on social media, and said that she faked her own demise to draw attention to the issue of cervical cancer. Her post received backlash from various celebrities and her fans.
