Ekta Kapoor on sexual harassment: Male celebrities can get wrongly maligned

Television and film producer Ekta Kapoor believes that a country can only progress if its women get proper support and respect. However, she is against women who exploit that support.

It all started with the New York Times exposé on the years of sexual harassment suffered by women at the hands of Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein — among the first to speak out was actor Ashley Judd. What followed were several other accusations against Weinstein and many other men in Hollywood, and the accusers included A-list female actors such as Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie. Simultaneously, the #metoo campaign encouraged women to recount the sexual assaults they faced, anywhere and everywhere.

Ekta Kapoor’s latest offering is the web series, Bose: Dead/Alive, starring Rajkummar Rao as Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. (PHOTO: AMAL KS/ HT)

While everyone has their own views on this phenomenon, television and film producer Ekta Kapoor, one of the most famous women in Indian entertainment, says, “I am probably the biggest supporter of women, but I am also an equalist. I believe there are several pros and cons to all these [allegations of sexual harassment by women]. By this, I mean, I know a lot of celebrities who got maligned last year for no fault of their own. Now that shouldn’t be the case. I, therefore, feel that laws should be the same for men and women.”

She believes in standing by real victims, but Ekta points out that she is against some women misusing support from society. “I feel [that] in a country like ours, we have to support women in every way possible. But I hope [that] no one gets exploited in the process,” she says.