Protesters Burn Effigies Of Richard Gere

(AP)  Angry crowds in several Indian cities burned effigies of Richard Gere on Monday after he swept a popular Bollywood actress into his arms and kissed her several times during an AIDS-awareness event.

Photographs of the 57-year-old actor embracing Shilpa Shetty and kissing her on the cheek at an HIV/AIDS awareness event in New Delhi were splashed across Monday's front pages in India — a country where sex and public displays of affection are largely taboo.

In Mumbai, members of the right-wing Hindu nationalist group Shiv Sena beat burning effigies of Gere with sticks and set fire to glamorous shots of Shetty.

Similar protests broke out in other cities, including Varanasi, Hinduism's holiest city, and in the northern town of Meerut, where crowds chanted "Down with Shilpa Shetty!"

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Photos: Richard Gere

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The two appeared at a press conference in New Delhi on Sunday to highlight the HIV/AIDS epidemic among India's truck drivers. In front of a cheering crowd, Gere kissed the giggling Shetty on the hand, then kissed her on both cheeks before bending her in a full embrace to kiss her cheek again.

"This is a bit too much," Shetty said after the embrace.

On Monday, Shetty tried to stamp out the controversy.

"I understand this is his culture, not ours. But this was not such a big thing or so obscene for people to overreact in such manner," she told the Press Trust of India news agency.

"I understand people's sentiments, but I don't want a foreigner to take bad memories from here," PTI quoted her as saying.

The spokesman for Hindu nationalist party Bharatiya Janata Party condemned the kiss.

"Such a public display is not part of Indian tradition," said Prakash Javadekar, according to PTI.

Shetty, already well-known in India, became an international star after her appearance on the British reality show "Celebrity Big Brother" — another controversial public appearance. A fellow contestant, Jade Goody, sparked international headlines by making allegedly racist comments to Shetty. Mobs took to the streets of India to denounce Goody, and Shetty went on to win the competition.

Gere's screen credits include "Chicago," "Pretty Woman" and "An Officer and a Gentleman."

[toldyouso21]

I'm not siding with the Indians but...at first I thought this whole thing was much ado about nothing until I saw the "kiss" on t.v. Gere did overdo it. It was uncomfortable to watch.
Posted by Cricketmk3 at 07:51 AM : Apr 17, 2007


It was uncomfortable to read also. A kiss that progresses? like it was a meal that was soooo tasty that he went on and on? Obviously the sexual aspect would have been distasteful to many--because we could see it as a case where a man takes advantage of a woman because he knows they are both in public and on the surface, the "peck" is supposed to be innocent--but then something is not so innocent by it. Most women have experienced an icky moment from a man. You know --either an inappropriate or prolonged cursoty kiss--or when you shake someones hand and they keep holding yours--their sweaty and obviously excited palms pressed to your hand, while one of their thumbs suggestively swirls circles on your skin....YUCK!!!!!!! LOL

[cricketmk3]

I'm not siding with the Indians but...at first I thought this whole thing was much ado about nothing until I saw the "kiss" on t.v. Gere did overdo it. It was uncomfortable to watch.

[toldyouso21]

You might be accustom to living in a wh-oredom where American women parade their naked dirty pus-sies like beasts for all the world to see; but Indians RIGHTLY do not buy into such beastly behaviors in their country; and foreigners are expected to follow suit.
Posted by Agnim at 09:06 PM : Apr 16, 2007

...and yet for some reason, RAPE scenes appear so frequently in their movies that many proclaim they are de rigeur. And can the lies. Indians have large segments engaging in prostitution and avail themselves of both women, young girls, men and boys. In fact there is a total subculture where women who are ****** expect their offspring to be in the profession and where young boys are sold to be transvestites and service men in certain quarters--this is a known fact.

[toldyouso21]

Gere is known for having a thing for women of color. From the black model, Naomi Campbell to a few others--he better be glad his reputation did not precede him or they would have run him out of India. Indians are still pretty race and caste conscious.

[wny14127]

And once again we as Americans are expected to follow the 'rules' of a foreign country or risk this kind of *** response.

But, it's ok when the Muslims and Indians come here and demand that we follow their demands made under the guise of freedom of religion.
And we Americans meekly follow their demands.

I'm no fan of Hollywood's idiots, but he didn't have $ex with her, he kissed her. Tell the Indians to get over it.

[agnim]

"Protesters Burn Effigies Of Richard Gere"

Why just the 'effigies'? LOL

These clowns have no respect for other people's culture in the people's 'home'.

His arse should be tossed on a funeral pyre instead.
That would make him come to his drug head senses quickly! LOL