KEY POINTS
- The incident took place in Team India’s hotel room in Perth
- Kohli shared the video after India’s loss to South Africa
- The hotel has issued an official apology to Kohli
India superstar Virat Kohli on Monday shared a shocking video of a fan entering his hotel room and filming a video of all his belongings.
The incident happened in hotel Crown Perth when Kohli was not in his room. After India’s loss to South Africa in the T20 World Cup Super 12s game, the former captain took to social media to condemn the action of the fan who seems to have shared the video with the caption “King Kohli’s hotel room.”
Kohli said that while he understood fans’ excitement about meeting their favorite players, he is not at all okay with “fanaticism and absolute invasion of privacy.”
“I understand that fans get very happy and excited seeing their favorite players and get excited to meet them and I’ve always appreciated that. But this video here is appalling and it’s made me feel very paranoid about my privacy. If I cannot have privacy in my own hotel room, then where can I really expect any personal space at all?? I’m NOT okay with this kind of fanaticism and absolute invasion of privacy. Please respect people’s privacy and not treat them as a commodity for entertainment,” wrote Kohli in an Instagram post.
Many celebrities, including Australian cricketer David Warner, and other movie stars reacted to the incident by commenting on Kohli’s Instagram post.
“This is ridiculous, totally unacceptable,” Warner wrote, replying to Kohli’s post.
Kohli’s wife Anushka Sharma, who is also a superstar in the Indian film industry, took to her Instagram stories to slam the act. She said that while she herself has experienced such incidents, what happened with Kohli was “the worst.”
“Exercising self-control helps everyone. Also, if this is happening in your bedroom, then where is the line?” Anushka asked.
Meanwhile, Crown Perth has apologized to Kohli and removed the person involved from the crown account.
“We unreservedly apologize to the guest involved and will continue to take the necessary steps to ensure this remains an isolated incident. The individuals involved have been stood down and removed from the Crown account,” read a statement from Crown Perth.
Crown Resorts spokesperson statement: “We unreservedly apologise to the guest involved and will continue to take the necessary steps to ensure this remains an isolated incident.
“The individuals involved have been stood down and removed from the Crown account.”#T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/pv12HSCYXz
— Nic Savage (@nic_savage1) October 31, 2022
Kohli will next be in action on Wednesday when India takes on Bangladesh at Adelaide Oval in their penultimate Super 12 game of the T20 World Cup 2022.
AFP / Glyn KIRK