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Celebrityhood And Personal Space: Is It An Oxymoron? 

Persons irrespective of being public personas they are entitled to their privacy and personal space. 

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Shivangi Mukherjee
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It is not unnatural to appreciate someone's work or hold a public person close to one's heart owing to the nature of their work. However, it is an entirely different subject when one assumes autonomy over said person's private life. So, where should one draw the line?
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It has come to light that Virat Kohli with his team was stationed at Perth, South Africa at Crown' Resort for their T20 World Cup match against South Africa. 

A video shared by the star player went live on his Instagram account on 31st of October. This video showed the contents of 'King Kohli's 👑 Hotel Room'. 

The video shared by Kohli left him feeling violated when he picked up the video shared on the internet by the hotel staff. The persons responsible for filming his room's contents without his express approval have been flagged. However, it doesn't undo the act itself. While as celebrities, they choose to live public lives, but how much is too much?  

Celebrityhood And Personal Space: Kohli and Anushka's reactions 

Kohli and Anushka both took to Instagram to express their opinions on the matter. 

Anushka's Instagram story read, "Have experienced a few incidents where some fans have shown no compassion or grace in the past but this really is the worst thing. An absolute disgrace and violation of a human being and anyone who sees this and thinks 'celebrity ho! Toh deal karna padega' should know that you are part of the problem. Exercising some self-control helps everyone. Also, if this is happening in your bedroom then where is the line?"

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Virat took to Instagram to express his state of mind and said, "I understand that fans get very happy and excited seeing their favourite players and get excited to meet them, and I've always appreciated that. But this video here is appalling, and it's made me feel very paranoid about my privacy. If I cannot have privacy in my own hotel room, then where can I really expect any personal space at all?? I'm NOT okay with this kind of fanaticism and absolute invasion of privacy. Please respect people's privacy and not treat them as a commodity for entertainment."

The duo had faced similar harassment when their daughter Vamika's face had been filmed without their consent at one of the matches. Despite expressing the need for privacy to their audience, they still feel persecuted at the hands of their audience today. 

Wouldn't it be horrifying to have your personal space filmed without your consent? 

It is appalling to note the assumption that a person's public nature of work must equate to them not having the right to any privacy or boundaries whatsoever. The word celebrity and personal space seem to be from two different universes. 

Pedestalising of celebrities and their actions take away their rights to be seen as humans first. As humans, we all have the fundamental right to privacy, and it is not only legally but ethically incorrect to disregard someone's privacy and violate their personal space. 

Persons irrespective of being public personas they are entitled to their privacy and personal space. 

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Celebrities especially constantly face their private spaces being intruded on a daily basis, be it their dating life, their wardrobe malfunctions, or their choice of garments. So much of it is not related to their work, yet such a crude narrative is encouraged because it's deemed entertaining. Their entire lives and actions are scrutinised for the purpose of entertainment.


Suggested Reading:

Virat Kohli Privacy Breach: Where Do You Draw The Line?


But when entrainment comes at the cost of the breach of someone's private space, should one not be more thoughtful of what they deem entertaining? 

The views expressed are the author's own.

Virat Kohli
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