Actor and filmmaker Kunal Kapoor, son of the late Shashi Kapoor and uncle to Ranbir Kapoor, has found himself at the centre of a social media storm following controversial comments about vegetarianism. His remarks, made during a conversation on Pooja Bhatt’s podcast, have drawn sharp criticism, with many social media users calling them insensitive and entitled.
Kunal Kapoor called vegetarians ‘racist’
During the discussion, Kunal bluntly stated, “I think vegetarians are racist.” When Pooja Bhatt questioned him, laughing and asking, “So, I’m a racist?”. He doubled down, explaining that he feels excluded as a non-vegetarian. According to him, he serves both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food to his guests at home, but does not receive the same treatment when visiting vegetarian households, which he views as unfair.
Reddit calls Kunal ‘entitled’ and ‘dumb’
Soon after stories from the podcast surfaced, Reddit users slammed Kunal for what they perceived as entitlement and a dismissive attitude toward others’ dietary beliefs. One user wrote, “Ok Karen, calm down.. the world doesn’t revolve around your needs. If you go to someone’s home or someone’s country, it’s important to assimilate instead of claiming to be almighty and wronged all the time. Oh wait, it’s a Kapoor. I won’t waste my breath.”
Another user commented, “Racism is not the same as discriminatory or exclusionary. These people need to get a dictionary because they think they sound intelligent when they are actually stupid.”
The criticism intensified, with one remark stating, “They are dumb, the majority of them can’t even pass 12th standard with all their resources, let alone go to university/college. Kapoors aren’t exactly the brightest to say the least.” Another responded, “Not dumb. Entitled and privileged.”
Others were even harsher. One comment read, “The whole family is so screwed up in the head! What is even the point of blabbering all this nonsense, bruhhhh!”.
However, not all reactions were negative. Some users came out in support of Kunal, suggesting that his comments were taken out of context. One wrote, “It might be said in a humorous tone, and the paper made it clickbait. The fact remains- non-veg people give exclusive options to the veg people during invitations. But we, non-veg people, don’t get the same options in gatherings hosted by vegetarian families. This is a fact and veg. People can give all their reasons, and we understand that. But yeah – there are no options exclusively for non-veg people in such gatherings.”
Another simply said, “He’s clearly joking.”
About Ranbir Kapoor turning vegetarian for Ramayana
The controversy also arrived just days after Ranbir Kapoor faced backlash for eating what appeared to be non-vegetarian food on Netflix’s Dining With The Kapoors. Viewers questioned whether Ranbir had truly given up non-veg food for his role as Lord Ram in Nitesh Tiwari’s upcoming Ramayana, as he had claimed earlier. While it remains unclear whether the dishes shown were vegetarian or not, the incident added fuel to the ongoing debate surrounding food choices within the Kapoor family.