Sahiba Bali Denies Tamannaah Bhatia Controversy, Flags Clickbait

Actor and influencer Sahiba Bali has dismissed a viral screenshot that claimed actor Tamannaah Bhatia had objected to her remarks about women, religion, and protests.

Bali said the purported exchange was fabricated and that no disagreement had taken place between them.

Background to the Controversy

The screenshot, which circulated on Reddit and Instagram, linked Bali with a doctored comment, which purportedly drew a reaction from Bhatia's official account.

It triggered polarised debate before the authenticity of the exchange had been established.

Denial and Explanation

Bali, in her Instagram Stories on Thursday, said, “Wow, woke up to a fabricated and fully FALSE narrative built around me saying something (which I never have) and a fellow female talent apparently opposing me (which she never did).

She added, “There’s a lot more to life than all this (sic).”

She maintained that she had not made the comments attributed to her and that Bhatia had not opposed her.

Previous Abuse and Threats

Bali had earlier shared screenshots of abusive comments and threats she said she received.

Some users appeared to have repeatedly sent her the same abusive messages.

Expressing exhaustion over the hostility and the risks of speaking out, Bali wrote: “I heard a lot this year. For absolutely no reason. I don’t support hatred of any kind. There might be narratives made which are manufactured — I address differences with compassion and not divide. I hope they can too. There’s too much hate in this world. The cost of voicing injustice is danger to livelihood and safety. I honestly am done. They won, I lost. I’m sorry.”

She also shared a message about access to information and the tendency of people to believe material that supports their existing views.

“We are living in the most information-rich era in human history. Knowledge is everywhere, most of it free. And yet, somehow, people have never been this confidently ignorant. We have unlimited access to information, but an alarming number of people use it only to find evidence for what they already want to believe,” the post read.

She captioned it: “Our algorithm will always show you what you want to see.”

Bali is a content creator and has worked in films including Laila Majnu, Amar Singh Chamkila, and Dear Maya.