Shilpa Shetty cleared of obscenity over Richard Gere kiss

An Indian court has finally cleared Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty of obscenity charges 15 years after the actress was kissed on stage by actor Richard Gere.

Footage from 2007 showed the Hollywood star kissing Shetty’s cheek at an Aids awareness event in Delhi. The charges have only now been ruled “groundless”, with the court saying she was the victim of an unwanted advance.

At the time the kiss triggered protests by radical Hindu groups who considered it to be an insult to Indian values. Gere hugged and kissed Shetty on a public stage at a charity event in Delhi nearly 15 years ago, a display he later apologised for.

The actor said he had been trying to show that kissing was a safe act that could not lead to the transmission of HIV. An arrest warrant issued for Gere over the incident was thrown out by India’s Supreme Court soon after. It dismissed the claims against the celebrity as being filed for “cheap publicity”.

However, it was only last week that the charges against Shetty for the same incident were dismissed in Mumbai after the case had languished in India’s court system. The Bollywood star’s legal team argued it was unfair for Shetty to be considered a “perpetrator” for not protesting enough against the kiss at the time.