'Classist, elitist...': Ranbir Kapoor's sister Riddhima faces flak for ‘house help’ remark

Riddhima Kapoor is facing sharp criticism online after a clip from an old interview sparked outrage over her remarks on social media trolls. 

In the viral video from her conversation with Galatta India, Riddhima discussed keeping her daughter, Samara, off social media, but her comment suggesting that trolls could be "house help" has ignited accusations of classism.

During the interview, Riddhima explained, “She (Samara) wants to be on social media, but I don’t want her to be. If she continues with her account, I’ve told her not to be affected by comments. People write all sorts of things, and anyone could be commenting. Maybe it’s the house help, who knows?” That comment, implying that trolls could come from household staff, triggered immediate backlash.

As soon as the clip surfaced on Reddit, users slammed her statement. One Redditor bluntly commented, "Eska matlab house help ko tum log pakka sub-humans ki tarah treat karte hoge... khud hi expose kardia apne aap ko (You must be treating house helps as sub-humans; you just exposed yourself)."

Another user criticized the logic behind Riddhima's comments, saying, "What she is saying doesn’t make sense. If Riddhima doesn’t want her child to be on social media, but her daughter wants to, they can find a middle ground by keeping her profile strictly private with access only to friends and family. And by doing such interviews, they are doing no good. This is now going to get more unwanted attention towards their kid." Another chimed in, “The house help thing shows they treat them badly, so she thinks house help is taking revenge.”

More comments continued to pour in, with one user adding, “Everything she said made sense except when she said house help as a classist remark. Like house help is not supposed to be on social media and all trolls are from a class below them. If only she realized how much class hierarchy is baked into her thinking." Another wrote, "Insanely unnecessary, classist/elitist, and even senseless… who and why would anyone use house help as an insult? It’s an honest way of earning a living."

Riddhima, who is married to Delhi-based businessman Bharat Sahni and runs her own jewelry brand, R Jewelry, has yet to respond to the criticism.