Poonam Pandey: Fake cancer death of India actress sparks ethics debate

A social media post alleging the death of Indian actress Poonam Pandey from cervical cancer, followed by a subsequent video declaring her alive, has ignited a heated debate on the ethical dilemmas surrounding online publicity campaigns.

On Friday, Poonam Pandey’s official Instagram account released a statement announcing the 32-year-old actress’s courageous battle against the disease and her tragic death. The news spread rapidly, with media outlets reporting her death within minutes and social media inundated with tributes.

Pandey, known for her roles in a few films and her controversial online presence, garnered fame through attention-grabbing posts and publicity campaigns. In 2011, she gained notoriety for pledging to strip naked if the Indian cricket team won the World Cup, a promise she did not fulfil.

A day after the supposed death announcement, Pandey posted a video revealing that she had “faked her demise” and clarified that the Instagram post, reaching her 1.3 million followers, was part of a social media campaign aimed at raising awareness about cervical cancer.

“Suddenly we all are talking about cervical cancer, aren’t we?” Pandey says in the video, adding that she was “proud” about what the news of her death “was able to achieve”.