A day after India lost to South Africa in Perth in the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup 2022, Virat Kohli was left fuming following a leaked video of his hotel room which was posted on social media.
The video titled “King Kohli’s Hotel Room” was in the public domain. In the clip, a man is seen walking around the room showing Kohli’s personal belongings such as health supplements, collection of shoes, his opened suitcase that contained India jerseys, caps and a pair of glasses on his table.
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Kohli on Monday (October 31) re-shared the post on his Instagram handle and said the video is “appalling” and made him feel “very paranoid” about his privacy.
“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,” the former India captain wrote along with the video.
Further, he stated, “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.”
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In the video it was clearly visible that there was more than one person, presumably hotel staff. Though Kohli did not mention where the video was shot, Australian opener David Warner, reacting to the Indian batsman’s post, asked whether it was at Crowne Perth hotel.
“This is ridiculous, totally unacceptable. Was this @crownperth?” Warner replied to Kohli’s post.
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Kohli’s wife Anushka Sharma too was angry. “Have experienced few incidents, where 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 also part of the problem’,” she wrote in her Instagram story.
“Exercising some self control helps everyone. Also, if this is happening in your bedroom then where is the line,” she added.
After its first defeat in the ongoing T20 World Cup, India left Perth for Adelaide where it will face Bangladesh on Wednesday (November 2).
Hotel takes action
The hotel – Crown Towers took action against the individuals who shot the video. It said they were “stood down and removed from the Crown account”.
“We are aware of an incident involving a contractor and the privacy of a guest at Crown Perth. The safety and privacy of our guests is our number one priority, and we are incredibly disappointed this incident has occurred. We unreservedly apologise to the guest involved and will continue to take the necessary steps to ensure this remains an isolated incident. Crown has taken immediate steps to rectify the issue. The individuals involved have been stood down and removed from the Crown account, and the original video was swiftly removed from the social media platform,” the hotel said in a statement.
“Crown is conducting an investigation with the third-party contractor and will take any further steps necessary to ensure an incident of this nature does not happen again. We are also cooperating with the Indian Cricket team and the International Cricket Council to convey our apologies and will continue to work with them as we progress the investigation,” it added.