'Food for media': Suresh Gopi on #MeToo in Mollywood

Union Minister Suresh Gopi on Tuesday lashed out at the media, accusing it of misleading the public's perception about the film industry regarding the recent allegations of sexual harassment against actors and directors.

The actor-politician termed the allegations as "food" for the media and said they were welcome to make money out of it.

The Union Minister of State for Petroleum, Natural Gas and Tourism, however, said they should not try to destroy such a huge industry like cinema.

He was responding to reporters' queries over the recent allegations of sexual harassment and abuse against various directors and actors, including Communist Party of India-Marxist MLA M Mukesh.

"This is all food for you, is what I understand. You can use it to make money. (There is) no problem with that. But these issues are before the court, and it has the intelligence and logic to arrive at a decision regarding them.

"You (media) are not only making people fight each other for your own gains, you are also misleading public perception. The complaints are in the form of allegations at the moment. What are you telling people? Are you the court? You are not. The court will decide. Let the court decide," Gopi said.

His response came a day after the Yuva Morcha organised a march towards the residence of Mukesh in Kollam.

The publication of the Justice K Hema Committee report on harassment and abuse in the Malayalam film industry has opened a can of worms with several female actors stepping forward with disturbing accounts of the mistreatment they faced at the hands of their various male counterparts.

Amid these allegations, the government announced the establishment of a seven-member special investigation team to probe the allegations made in the wake of the Hema Committee report being published.

Following that more complaints surfaced against various actors and directors.

The report by the Justice Hema Committee, constituted by the Kerala government after the 2017 actress assault case has revealed instances of harassment and exploitation of women in the Malayalam cinema industry, prompting calls for action against the guilty.