‘Stop making scapegoats of celebrities’

Shilpa Shetty reacts to temple controversy

Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty is angry for being dragged into a controversy over entering a temple with her shoes on, and says that people have used her name just to get publicity.

"I have no idea why these stories have been concocted and it is obvious that this is the easiest way for some people to seek publicity! This is ridiculous, they have to stop making scapegoats of celebrities. It's a waste of precious time and energy and there is a huge backlog of important judicial matters that's pending and needs to be addressed," Shilpa wrote on her blog on Saturday (August 1).

Shilpa was accused of entering the Gopinath Deb temple of Sakhigopal near Puri, Orissa, on Thursday with her shoes on and the temple authorities later filed a complaint with the Satyabadi police station against the actress. She was shooting for a TV reality show.

"It was preposterous! The fact of the matter is that we didn't even shoot in the temple and the channel obviously took permission to shoot at the footsteps without which we couldn't have proceeded."

"So, don't know what the fuss is all about and I still don't know why the FIR is in my name because I was hired by the channel to perform. The production wasn't mine, neither did I seek permissions and above all we didn't shoot inside the temple," she wrote.

The 34-year-old further clarified the charges against her by explaining her "spiritual" roots.

"Being born into a spiritual family, I know how to conduct myself. I've spent a good part of my life visiting temples all over, so there was report that said I walked into the temple with slippers on! Please stop this uncalled for 'tamasha' and misusing the perks of democracy," she posted.

No serious case was made out against the actress.