EXCLUSIVE: Poonam Pandey REACTS To Scrutiny After Fake Death Controversy For Cervical Cancer Awareness; Says, “There Was Zero Money Involved”

Last year, in February 2024, Poonam Pandey passed away due to cervical cancer. After 24 hours, the social media influencer took to her Instagram to share that she is alive, and this was a Cervical Cancer Awareness campaign with an agency. This sparked serious debate about public figures using their names to pull such a publicity stunt. In an exclusive interview with Bollywood Bubble, Poonam Pandey clarified she never charged a single money for the Cervical Cancer Awareness Campaign and that it helped more people.

Poonam Pandey On Her Fake Death Controversy In Cervical Cancer Awareness Campaign

When asked about the scrutiny behind the Cervical Cancer Awareness campaign, where she declared herself dead for 24 hours, Poonam Pandey said, “Today morning, I was reading an article, ‘How could she take cancer?’, ‘How could she go this low?’ It’s a publicity stunt. See, people are calling me now. We really hated you the but people are taking vaccines now, though. My doctor friends say, ‘Poonam, you have done a brilliant job. We are tired of telling people that this cancer is now preventable.’ People were not taking it seriously; nobody was until they got to know about me. It was insane.”

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She continued, “With all due respect, to all the celebrities, there’s a term we use, ‘Ek bolne aata hai sab bolne aagaye hai.’ Main tumko jaanti bhi nahi hoon, tum ho koun? There are a lot of celebrities whom I would admire. People came out and they bluntly spoke shit about me. Khudh toh tumne kuch nahi kya hai life main, aur jhoot toh sabhi bolte hai, apni daily life mein. At least 10 jhoot bolte honge, maine 1 bola, 1000+ people were saved, aur tumko usme bhi problem hai. Tumko basically mujhse problem hi haina.”

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Poonam Reveals She Took No Money For Cancer Awareness Campaign

Talking about the scrutiny around the execution of this campaign, the actress said, “So, this thought came from Schbang, it’s an advertising agency. And it was completely for this cause. There was 0 money involved. It was literally for this cause. And I thought main koi acha kaam karleti hoon. I would do something nice, but people crucified me.”

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Poonam Pandey’s Cervical Cancer Awareness Controversy

Poonam Pandey caused controversy by faking her death from cervical cancer as a publicity stunt to raise awareness. Her team announced her death on social media, highlighting her “brave fight” with the disease. The next day, Pandey revealed it was a hoax and expressed pride in the attention it generated for cervical cancer awareness. The incident faced immediate backlash, with critics calling it unethical and manipulative, potentially damaging genuine awareness efforts.

Supporters argued it increased awareness and highlighted the importance of the HPV vaccine, as online searches surged post-campaign. However, many organisations like Gavi felt that such deception was inappropriate and raised ethical concerns, sparking online debate about the morality of using drastic tactics for health awareness.

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