Richard Gere forgets he’s not making Pretty Woman 2, pisses off country

April 28, 2007 4:46 pm     Posted in Buzz, News  Jess - NYU g+ page

gs.jpgAccording to CNN.com, Richard Gere was issued an arrest warrant by a judge in the northwestern city of Jaipur, India last week because of a kiss (on the cheek!!) that was allegedly “highly sexually erotic”.


By Jess

Trying to drum up support at a charitable event hosted by Heroes Project, a charity Gere developed to help fight AIDS in India, the aging actor attempted to do a swoop kiss with famed Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty. The harmless gesture didn’t seem so harmless to certain conservative Hindu groups, who demonstrated against the public display of affection (something that’s still considered taboo by many in the country) so strongly that a judge called for action. If convicted, both Gere and Shetty could face “three months in prison, a fine, or both”.

Gere’s camp, as well as a few spokespeople in India, claim the judicial gesture is preposterous and was only issued to gain publicity.

While my American brain agrees that certain people in that country need to simmer down, I’m even more outraged that Shetty is being dragged through the same mud as Gere. The courts claim that because she didn’t “resist” the gesture, she’s just as much to blame as the American Gigilo, a declaration I call patriarchal bullshit.

What do you think, lovelies? Should Shetty be called out? Is this just another case of patriarchal stupidity?

2 Comments on "Richard Gere forgets he’s not making Pretty Woman 2, pisses off country"

  1. C'mon says:
    Sat, 28th Apr 20073:06 pm 

    We Indians still like Mr Gere. In fact no more than a few dozen people at a time took to the streets burning Mr Gere’s effigies and in only four different towns. I am sure you know that India is a country of about a billion people with hundreds of such towns. There were hundreds of people present in the audience when this kissing took place. None of them including Ms Shetty cared about it. Hardly anyone does now.

    The judge who issued this warrant works out of a court in small town India and not out of ‘ New Delhi ‘. The lawyer who filed this suit is notorious for filing about fifty similar suits in the past and thus clogging the system. This is not the first time a Public Interest Litigation ( PIL ) application in India has been abused. In a similarly ridiculous attempt, a lawyer had sued a famous cricketer for eating beef! I can assure you no one in India has or will ever go to jail for either eating beef or for kissing someone. This is what Soli Sorabjee, former Attorney General of India had to say about Gere’s warrant – “The order is ridiculous. Even if this hugging and kissing was a bit vulgar, it does not amount to obscenity.”

    “They are just seeking publicity,” he said.

    Another senior lawyer called the order “an act of judicial indecency.”

    “This is only for cheap publicity and the magistrate and lawyer should be restrained,” Dushyant Dave told the Times of India newspaper.

    The legal community in India has in fact slammed this warrant.

    I am saddened that the American media is sensationalizing this incident by using headlines screaming – ” The Kiss that Shocked India ” or ” Protests Rock India “. Why should the great majority of Indians be made to look retrograde for the actions of a few rascals?

    By the way have you checked out the Kingfisher Swimsuit Calendar from last year? It’s India’s answer to the famous Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition; only the Indian models will make the Americans look like nuns!

  2. rajkumar says:
    Sat, 28th Apr 20073:19 pm 

    I think if mr richard gere is arrested,and jailed it will do nothing but harm india's reputation around the world.shilpa shetty has done nothing but good for india.'people's view of india around the world'.If shilpa was a uk citizen she would get a MBE from the queen.Tourism might suffer,people will certainly think twice.If mr gere is arrested I think the US goverment mr bush will step in and demand his release.

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