Shark Tank's Namita Thapar on being trolled for rejecting competitor's pitch: 'I call out toxicity, no regrets'

Namita Thapar says she speaks candidly and does not invest in a fellow shark's competition. She was responding to the criticism that followed Shark Tank judges rejecting a makeup brand's pitch.

A day after the internet trolled Shark Tank India judges for rejecting a pitch as it was a competitor for Vineeta Singh, Namita Thapar has said that she calls out "toxicity" instead of celebrating people with "lack of integrity". The show judges were trolled for rejecting a pitch just because it would have posed competition for their ‘friend’ Vineeta Singh's makeup brand, Sugar Cosmetics. ()

Namita Thapar has responded to trolling of Shark Tank judges after they rejected a pitch from a makeup brand.

Namita Thapar tweeted Tuesday afternoon, "Being a shark doesn't mean we are not entitled to our independent values and speaking candidly so if I don't invest in a fellow sharks competition, that's me, no regrets & if I call out toxicity & don't join the ignorant that celebrate people with lack of integrity.. that's me :)."

The second season of the popular show Shark Tank India premiered on January 2 and was quick to land itself into fresh controversy. In the first episode, a makeup brand pitch impressed all the sharks but they rejected it mainly because it was a competitor brand to Vineeta's brand. In the episode, the Sugar co-founder was also visibly surprised when told that the official Instagram account of her brand (Sugar) follows the brand being pitched (Recode).

Fans did not like it, and many of them took to Twitter to criticise the move. One of them wrote that the show was turning into a TV serial drama. “Why have they turned Shark Tank season 2 into a full tv serial drama? 'Mein apne doston ke competition pe invest nahi karta (I won't invest in my friend's competition)” bhai (bro)??? y’all are investors, what is wrong with you guys?? I love how Peyush went this is stupid.”

Another person tweeted, "Lesson of the day from Shark Tank - if you are a founder from beauty, audio gadgets, eyewear, pharma or marriage business then don’t go there! People will not invest. Weird reason !! Such a bad message!”

Based on the American show Shark Tank USA, Shark Tank India first premiered the first season in December 2021. Aman Gupta and Anupam Mittal are also Shark Tank judges, much as they were in the first season. Ashneer Grover was part of the first season but he is not part of the show anymore and Amit Jain is a new joinee on the judges' panel.