Ayesha Khan opens up about body-shaming and daily rape threats, says song rejection still hurts

Ayesha Khan opens up about body-shaming and daily rape threats, says song rejection still hurts

• Ayesha Khan reveals facing body-shaming early in her career
• She receives daily online abuse and rape threats on Instagram
• Ayesha persists in TV, film, and music despite challenges

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The Dhurandhar and Bigg Boss 17 star shared these revelations during a recent appearance at the We The Women event, bringing attention to the persistent issues of body-shaming and online harassment faced by women in the entertainment industry.

Speaking at the We The Women event, while she was still in Class XII, she had been cast as the second lead in a song produced by T-Series. She was reportedly preparing for the shoot when, just a night before filming, she was abruptly replaced because she was considered “fat.” The rejection, she said, left a lasting impact on her self-esteem and became one of her earliest brushes with the industry’s narrow beauty standards.

Transitioning to her experiences today, Ayesha described how online abuse has become a near-daily reality. She said that on social media platforms — particularly Instagram — her body is constantly sexualised, and comments about what she wears often turn hostile.

Ayesha said, “I am almost every day sexualised for my body on Instagram. I wear a normal top; people have a problem, I wear skirts, people have a problem. I have to think before posting. If I have to think before wearing something or wanting to post something, just because someone else is going to sexualise me, it’s, of course, a very sad space to be in. I don’t know, there’s a very thin line I keep struggling, sometimes I think I’ll post whatever I want, but other times I am not in the mood to see any comments telling me whatever they would have done to me if they had a chance."

More alarmingly, Ayesha revealed that she receives rape threats almost every day, emphasising that these are not abstract insults but messages from real people. She continued, “Because you are a potential rapist if you had the strength or you could do what you are saying, you would do it. So it’s very scary that these are actual human beings around us. These are not just comments. I have had rape threats every day. I so wish something strict could be done about it. There are days when it triggers my wounds, scares me that if I were not this famous or powerful like I am today, it could have happened."

Also read: Ayesha Khan on memes about shooting “Shararat” during periods: “Everything has become a joke”

Despite these challenges, Ayesha continues to work across television and film, including roles in Mukhachitram, Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon 2 and the widely praised song Shararat from Dhurandhar.