After the India’s Got Latent controversy, the host, Samay Raina, and panellists Ranveer Allahbadia, Apoorva Mukhija, and Ashish Chanchlani faced severe backlash. It blew so out of proportion that none of them came into the public eye to address anything. However, much after the case rested, the artists went back to creating, except one – Apoorva Mukhija, aka The Rebel Kid. The content creator recently made her Bollywood debut through the movie Nadaaniyan but couldn’t celebrate her win. Furthermore, she wiped her social media clean and even unfollowed everyone. But did the audience know what she was undergoing in the meantime? Here’s everything you need to know about the Apoorva Mukhija controversy.

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Influencer Apoorva Mukhija facing digital harassment

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A post shared by Apoorva (@the.rebel.kid)

Apoorva Mukhija recently made her Instagram comeback and shared two posts after the IGL controversy. However, her comeback reflects the audience’s darkest side. She recently shared a post highlighting a neverending series of hate comments, rape threats, death threats and mentions of acid attack. Apoorva captioned the post, saying, “And that’s not even 1%.” The post reeks of misogynistic men and filthy minds who take pride in badmouthing women.

Apoorva further uploaded another post saying, “Don’t take away the story from the storyteller.” This reflects how the audience engages with the women creators. What do they do wrong? They voice their opinions like regular human beings. Such incidents call for a major question – how can women artists escape such situations? Is there any rulebook that can guide them? If you’re a female artist and want to succeed in these vicious times, here’s a simple rulebook you must follow.

1. Be relatable, not real

Audiences love a relatable, confident woman until they don’t. As a woman content creator, you should speak up, but you must pick soft struggles. Talk about how a cat ignored you that day, share your wardrobe struggles or how you can’t bargain at Sarojini market anymore. Always watch out for words like men, patriarchy and feminism because they might trigger a man-child in your audience.

2. Be funny as long as the joke’s on you

Dear women, you’ve got spectacular humour, but please keep your jokes to yourself. However, if you have a ton of self-deprecating jokes, feel free to deliver them; it’s cute. Do you have a joke about toxic men and their fragile masculinity? Little miss, stop right there. You’re just a punchline away from a 37-year-old man in your DMs slut shaming you.

3. Avoid topics like sex, religion and politics

You see, women are not ‘learned’ enough to venture into these areas, let alone have an opinion about them. Stick to safe topics like skincare, bubble tea or anything that your audience can hear with some Lo-fi background music.

4. Collaborate with male content creators, but know your place

Do you want to work with your male counterparts to grow your audience? Go ahead, but maintain a 3-foot distance at all times and a boring chemistry. You don’t want your viewers thinking of you as taking advantage of the guy to increase your fanbase. Furthermore, with the advent of AI, you never know who might misuse your content to amuse themselves.

5. Don’t call it harassment; call it engagement

Ladies, when you receive hate, remember it’s just a part of your job. Your complaints give out victim card energy and might lower your aura points. Furthermore, don’t respond to those comments either; it makes you look too desperate for attention.

6. Don’t expect protection from platforms or people

You see, report buttons are cute in theory, but you shouldn’t count on them. When you fall prey to hatred, you’re more likely to trend than be defended. So, sit back, plan revenge and come back way stronger than before.

So, dear women, if you have creativity inside you, follow these rules to express it the ‘right’ way. Or don’t. Even if you follow these rules, you are still likely to provoke internet and face harassment online. So, express every thought and be unapologetically yourself because that’s the real rebellion.

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