Poonam Pandey’s reputation as a bold, unapologetic figure in entertainment isn’t exactly breaking news. She’s always been a bit of a lightning rod—either you love her or you can’t stand her.
But last year, she really pushed the envelope: she faked her death on social media.
Poonam Pandey defends death hoax despite backlash
Yes, you read that right. Suddenly, everyone was talking—fans, haters, celebs, random people on Twitter. It was chaos online. The backlash? Brutal. People weren’t just upset; they were furious, calling her out for being insensitive and manipulative.
In a chat with Bollywood Bubble, Poonam tried to set the record straight. She explained that the whole thing was part of a campaign to make people realize how preventable cervical cancer is.
Her words? “People are calling me now saying, ‘We hated you,’ but people are taking vaccines now.” Even her doctor friends thought the campaign was a smart move. She claimed nobody was really paying attention to cervical cancer until her stunt made headlines. “It was insane,” she said.
Poonam Pandey asks what’s the big deal
So, here’s what went down: her team posted that she’d died from cervical cancer, painting it as a heroic battle. The internet lost its mind. A day later, she popped back up, alive and well, saying it was all to raise awareness. Did it work? Maybe. But the internet wasn’t exactly forgiving. People called it tasteless and manipulative—some even said it crossed a line.
Poonam didn’t mince words about the criticism. She said, “People came out, and they bluntly spoke shit about me. Jhoot toh sabhi bolte hai, apni daily life mein. At least 10 jhoot bolte honge, maine 1 bola, 1000-plus people were saved, aur tumko usme bhi problem hai.” Basically, everyone lies, but her one lie apparently helped save lives—so what’s the big deal?
She also revealed the stunt was cooked up by an ad agency called Schbang, and she didn’t take a single rupee for it. It was purely about the cause, she said. “I thought main koi achha kaam kar leti hoon. I would do something nice, but people crucified me,” she added.
Some also gave her credit for bringing HPV vaccination and cervical cancer into the spotlight. Others, including organisations like Gavi, slammed the whole thing as completely unethical.
