Influencer Sarah Sarosh has deleted a video which showed her getting ready and doing her makeup while the voiceover touched upon a much more serious topic - the rape and murder of a doctor inside a hospital in Kolkata that has shocked the nation. Social media users were quick to notice the disconnect between what they saw on their screens and the heinous crime being spoken of in the voiceover, and slammed Sarosh for trivialising the issue.
In the ‘Get Ready With Me’ Instagram Reel, the beauty content creator was seen putting on serums, face creams and doing a full face of makeup. She was seen smiling, winking and showing her beauty products to the viewers while the voiceover spoke about the rape and murder of the Kolkata doctor.
The video was slammed as insensitive, out-of-touch and distasteful - with hundreds of complaints flooding the Instagram comments section within minutes of it being shared online yesterday.
Although the video was deleted from Sarosh’s Instagram account, it is still being circulated on Reddit, X and other social media platforms.
“This is so distasteful and insensitive. She will do anything for views,” wrote one Reddit user.
“At this point, these people’s accounts should be banned. If she really had to talk about this topic, she could’ve sat down rather than doing a GRWM. How are the audio and video are related. Why would you upload a GRWM while talking about something so insensitive?” another person asked on a Reddit thread discussing the video.
Reactions were similarly negative on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. Dr Vivek Pandey called it “Absolutely disgusting” on the platform.
{{/usCountry}}Reactions were similarly negative on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. Dr Vivek Pandey called it “Absolutely disgusting” on the platform.
{{/usCountry}}“Looks like there’s no end to how low they can go for likes. Nothing is off limits. No basic human decency is required,” another X user posted.
Sarah Sarosh applogises
Sarah Sarosh apologised for the video in an Instagram Story. She said her intention was to start a conversation around the issue and she did not realise how tone-deaf the video looked.
“I posted a GRWM reel yesterday which was shot 2 months ago with a voiceover on the current affairs of the rape & murder incident,” the content creator said. “While editing it I did not realise how tone deaf it would be for the audio and video to not sync and saw it as a way to make more people TALK about the important matters at hand coz even posting a beauty video amongst these news wasn't feeling right.
“I deleted the video within the first 5 minutes of posting it because the comments made me realise instantly that the messaging is distasteful from my end,” she added. “I deeply apologise for my actions to all those who have come across the content through screenrecordings of my deleted content being circulated on other platforms.”
Sarosh said she would continue to talk about the case but in a more mindful way.