Rockstar actor Aditi Rao Hydari shared how she lost work when she entered the film industry because she refused people’s advances.
At the India Today Conclave South 2018 in Visakhapatnam, the actor said, “I remember when I started, I was extra-naive because I came from a protected background. I didn’t know that the rumors were true, that things like this did happen. And honestly, I have not had such a bad time. I had one incident which actually didn’t harm me very much. But yes, I did lose work because I was given a choice – it’s either this or this. For me, it was a no-brainer. I had to walk away.”
She added, “I think you should speak about something only when you are ready. And when you don’t talk about it, people are like, ‘Oh, they were paid off’ or ‘oh, they were silenced.”
“I did lose work and I cried about it. I didn’t regret it but I cried about it because I felt so upset that this was true and this is how girls are treated. I was like, how dare someone to speak to me like that! For about eight months [after the incident] I didn’t get work, but I feel that decision made me stronger in my intention about the kind of work I wanted to do,”
“I think that everybody should do what they need to do when they think it is right. That is what empowering a person is. This #MeToo movement is turning that on its head and taking that power away by putting these conditions and saying, ‘You must speak. If you don’t, that means you are giving in,’”
source