Ram Kapoor says it's easier for overweight women to succeed, calls Smriti Irani 'huge'; internet collectively facepalms

Hindustan Times

06-07-2025

Actor Ram Kapoor has stirred the hornet's nest yet again. The actor, who has been in the news for all the wrong reasons lately, claimed that overweight women have an advantage over overweight men in showbiz in a new interview. The comments received flak on social media, with many wondering if the actor is trying to get cancelled. Ram Kapoor made some comments on Smriti Irani's weight in a recent interview.
Ram Kapoor on actors' weight and success
In an interaction with Humans of Bombay, Ram Kapoor addressed the weight and appearance of actors on screen. Mentioning Smriti Irani, he said, "She was my size as a woman and probably more successful than me. It's just that she left earlier and that was Smriti Irani. When she started Kyunki Saas (bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi) to when she ended, she was huge. See the first year of Kyunki and the last year of Kyunki, she's as big as I am. But equally successful."
Ram then implied that while it will be difficult for more men to achieve success with the weight, women like Smriti have. "It will be difficult for another guy to do it, I agree. But Smriti did it; she did it with all that weight," he added.
Internet slams Ram Kapoor
After snippets from the interview were shared on social media, the internet expressed its disapproval of the statement. One person exclaimed, "What did I just hear? Did he just say that success is directly proportional to the LITERAL SIZE of a human being? Has he lost it or has this been taken out of context? I mean, wtf?" Another added, "I've literally never seen a single overweight female in a romantic drama on ITV, unless the whole show is abt her weight. But he kept on getting cast as a lead in romantic dramas, where his weight was never the topic of conversation, so wtf is he cribbing abt? Even Smriti was very thin when the show started."
Another justified Smriti's success and weight gain, writing, "She legit acted in her pregnancies. And her "size" which, no offence, she looked absolutely beautiful in all her sizes on the show, actually suited the character due to the character having multiple children then going on to have grandchildren etc."
On Reddit, one person referred to Ram's recent controversial statements and wondered, "Ram Kapoor wants to be cancelled so bad."
Ram Kapoor's recent controversy
Ram Kapoor was last seen in JioHotstar's Mistry, an adaptation of Monk. The show's promotions were not without controversy as the actor was removed from the promotional interviews by the streaming platform following his sexist comments aimed at the marketing and publicity team. The actor has since apologised for his behaviour.