After the ONV Cultural Academy released a statement yesterday about reconsidering the decision to confer the literary award on Vairamuthu, the ‘Me Too’ accused lyricist today has said that he would be ‘returning’ the award.
In a video statement, Vairamuthu said that some ‘envious people’ had interfered due to which the academy had decided to reconsider.
He said that he decided to return the award as he feared that both his name and the ONV Group’s name would be belittled and to save to ‘intellectual jury’ from being pushed to an embarrassing situation.
ONV Cultural Academy had issued a statement on May 28 that the the award is now under reconsideration at the instance of the selection committee.
The decision of the academy came after the issue snowballed into a controversy with a section of the Malayalam film industry as well as journalists objecting to Vairumuthu, who has been accused of sexual harassment receiving the award.
It is to be noted that DMK chief and Tamil Nadu Chief Minsiter MK Stalin was one of the first to congratulate the ‘Me Too’ accused lyricist after news of him being the recipient of the award came.
‘Me Too’ accused Vairamuthu who has been accused of sexual harassment by 18 women has also been facing the ire for his pedophilic lyrics in a recently released song as part of his ‘Naatpadu Theral’ series, a collaborative project with DMK’s Kalaignar TV.
The song is about a school-going girl in love with a grey-haired old ‘poet’ and is filmed with 16-year-old star Anika Surendran.
A complaint has been lodged with the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) against ‘Me Too’ fame Tamil lyricist Vairamuthu for penning a song that romanticizes pedophilia.
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