Priyanka Chopra was snapped smoking a cigarette on a yacht while celebrating her birthday weekend with her family. Since this is 2019 and nothing a celebrity does can go unremarked upon, Twitter trolls have come out in full force to attack Priyanka, digging up everything from her asthma to her advocating against firecrackers on Diwali.
In a poor quality paparazzi photo doing the rounds on social media, Priyanka is seen smoking a cigarette, while her mother Madhu Chopra and pop-singer husband Nick Jonas are seen enjoying a cigar on a yacht ride. Now you might notice, only one person among those is being criticised for smoking. Oh and by the way, Nick’s cigar is a constant fixture in his photos. The guy loves them. But cigars are classy so it’s okay I guess.
Priyanka last year was part of a campaign where she talked about how asthma did not stop her from achieving the highs of her career. She had supported an anti-pollution campaign during Diwali but was also called out for displaying fireworks at her wedding (so don’t be confused if this cycle of outrage feels familiar.)
Here’s a sample of the tweets we saw in the last two days.
Now I’m the last person to jump up and defend a superstar with millions of fans, but I can’t take this nonsense sitting down. So gather around children, here’s a little lesson. Someone can not be a smoker, not like smoking, and still smoke occasionally, least of all their freakin’ birthday. Bringing up someone’s tweets from 10 years ago doesn’t prove anything, and there has been no indication in all of Priyanka’s public career that she is a regular smoker.
For heaven’s sake, the woman was celebrating her 37th birthday with friends and family! She’d already done a Insta-perfect shoot for the fans, this yacht outing was clearly a private affair. Everyone was enjoying cigars, maybe Priyanka doesn’t like those. And yes, one cigarette doesn’t kill an asthmatic.
Listen, we all know smoking is bad, but let’s act like adults about something for a change. Smoking/not smoking doesn’t need to be some sort of sharp binary. It’s ironic that these Twitter trolls are so concerned about someone else’s health when there’s something clearly unhealthy about their obsession with female celebrities towing the line. This aggressively uncool lot would never know the appeal of a cigarette.*
*Smoking is injurious to health. This writer does not advocate smoking. Promise.
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