Mahesh Babu has strongly criticised Telangana minister Konda Surekha's comments made against Samantha Ruth Prabhu in regard to her divorce from Naga Chaitanya. Mahesh took to his X (formely Twitter) handle and posted a long note stressing on the need to safeguard the women of India's film fraternity.
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The actor's post read, "Extremely pained by the comments made by Minister Konda Surekha garu on fellow members of our film fraternity. As a father of a daughter, as a husband to a wife and as son to a mother… I am deeply anguished by the unacceptable remarks and language used by a woman minister on another woman. Freedom of speech can be exercised as long as it does not hurt other’s sentiments. I strongly condemn the cheap and baseless comments made and request people in the public domain to refrain from making the film fraternity a soft target. The women of our country and our film fraternity should be treated with utmost respect and dignity. #FilmIndustryWillNotTolerate"
Naga Chaitanya and Samantha Ruth Prabhu got married in 2017 and parted ways in 2021. Surekha recently made the statement that politician KT Rama Rao was the reason behind the former couple's divorce. Her comments left the Telugu film industry furious with many calling her out for digging into the personal lives of film stars. From the Akkineni clan to Jr NTR and Nani, several celebs criticised Surekha.
ALSO READ: Konda Surekha Withdraws Comments On Samantha Ruth Prabhu; Says Her Growth As An Actor Has Been An Inspiration
On Thursday, Surekha withdrew her comments. In her latest tweet, Surekha wrote that her intentions were not to hurt Samantha, but to question a leader's way of treating women. She also said she admired the way Samantha has cemented her career.