Rashmika Mandanna Threatens Legal Action Over Leaked Audio of Her Mother, Gives 24-Hour Ultimatum
Barely weeks after Rashmika Mandanna married actor Vijay Deverakonda, the actress is dealing with a fresh controversy an alleged audio clip of her mother, Suman Mandanna, discussing events from her broken engagement has gone viral online.
Rashmika hit back hard on Instagram Thursday, calling the clip deliberately edited to damage her reputation and warning that legal notices would go out within 24 hours if the content wasn’t taken down.
What’s in the audio?
Those who’ve followed Rashmika’s career might remember she was briefly engaged in 2017 to Rakshit Shetty, her co-star from Kirik Party. The two called it off the following year, citing compatibility issues. She later moved into Telugu cinema and, after years of dating, recently married Vijay Deverakonda.
The audio clip now circulating features what appears to be Suman Mandanna recounting what went wrong between the two families and what was allegedly demanded of her daughter before the split.
OneIndia quoted Suman as saying that Rakshit’s family had insisted Rashmika publicly announce she would quit acting after marriage. When Suman pushed back, the situation apparently escalated. “His final condition was that Rashmika should tweet saying she would leave acting after marriage,” she reportedly said.
Suman also described being asked to apologise something she refused. “His mother said her mother must come and apologise. Why should I apologise without any reason?” she reportedly said, adding: “Good that they broke up.”
Kerala Kaumudi quoted her separately as saying an intimate scene Rashmika filmed for Geetha Govindam had created tension with Rakshit. “I feel good that they both broke up,” she reportedly said, also referencing the age gap between the two.
Rashmika’s response
On Thursday, Rashmika posted a lengthy statement to her Instagram stories.
She described eight years of what she called a “sustained campaign of misinformation, harassment, and targeted attacks” and said she had largely chosen silence. Thursday, she said, was different.
“An old private conversation, believed to be from nearly eight years ago, appears to have been recorded and circulated without the knowledge or consent of those involved,” she wrote. “A small portion of that conversation has now been deliberately taken out of context and circulated widely to create yet another discomforting controversy strategically coinciding with recent developments in my personal life.”
She said the circulation of the clip was “a serious invasion of privacy” and accused those behind it of manufacturing hate “at the cost of another person’s dignity and peace.”
Then came the ultimatum: “I request all media platforms, influencers and individuals who are circulating this content or related narratives to remove them immediately. You have 24 hours from the time of this statement to do so. Failing this, starting tomorrow, appropriate legal action will be initiated including the issuance of legal notices to individuals, influencers, digital platforms, or media organisations involved in the continued circulation of defamatory or privacy-violating content.”
The wedding backdrop
The controversy comes shortly after Rashmika and Vijay Deverakonda married in an intimate ceremony in Udaipur on February 26. The couple shared glimpses from their pre-wedding celebrations with fans and later hosted a reception in Hyderabad on March 4 attended by stars from both Bollywood and the Telugu industry, as well as politicians.