Malayalam rapper Vedan is not new to controversies, including multiple women accusing him of sexual assault and harassment, and filing complaints against him. Recently, he met the Tamil Nadu Minister for School Education, Tamil Development, Information and Publicity, Rajmohan Arumugam, who was an actor and stand-up comedian. Singer Chinmayi Sripaada took to her X (formerly Twitter) account to react to the news.
Chinmayi questions Vijay and Rajmohan platforming Vedan
Re-posting a picture of Vedan and Rajmohan shaking hands, Chinmayi wrote that she hoped Vijay and TVK would be different from how MK Stalin and DMK functioned. She wrote, “I hope @TVKVijayHQ and @imrajmohan dont do exactly what the previous regimens did in men platforming accused of serious sexual harassment / assault allegations.”
She revealed that she was once supposed to work with Vedan, writing, “During Covid, a song was announced as a collaboration between Govind Vasantha, Muhsin Parari, Vedan and me. I participated in Malayalam based Clubhouse event in which a woman asked me how I could work with Vedan.”
Says she turned down work featuring Vedan
Chinmayi explained that back then, she didn’t know about the allegations against him. “At that point, the reports were predominantly in Malayalam and I had no knowledge of it. He later put out a statement apologising and (accepting?) that he was wrong,” she wrote, adding, “The project was dropped. Vedan has since been named by others. I routinely turned down concerts that he was a part of at great loss to my own work and opportunities – Men using social activism as a facade to violate women’s consent is not acceptable.”
She stated that while women who name him get no support, men get platformed. “The problem remains: women in similar social groups get no support when they want to name men like Vedan and stand absolutely alone because the man is a ‘hero’, a ‘leader’ and the women have to tolerate his transgressions for the ‘greater good’. Some of these men who have painted themselves as voices for those whose voice has been taken away, yet remain aggressors that they claim to fight. Enough is enough,” she summed it up.
Chinmayi also re-posted a video of Vedan meeting the former deputy chief minister of Tamil Nadu and actor-producer, Udhayanidhi Stalin, writing, “I have basically given up asking them not to platform a molester. So honestly… (folded hands emoji).”
Vedan currently has multiple cases against him, including allegations of sexual assault, outraging modesty, and a drug and wildlife case over alleged possession of a leopard tooth.
