Samantha Ruth Prabhu says she was 'forced to go public about' myositis: 'I was very sick back then'

Recalling her early days as an actor, Samantha Ruth Prabhu said that she would get anxious after reading some of the articles written about her and said that social media had become a platform for the public to project pain.

Actor Samantha Ruth Prabhu said that she was forced to come out in public and reveal she was suffering from the autoimmune disorder myositis.

Speaking at the India Today Conclave 2024, the 36-year-old actor said that ahead of her 2022 release "Yashoda", she had to come out in the open and speak about suffering from the disorder and admitted that if she was given a choice, she would not have made the announcement.

"I was forced to go public about my disorder. At that time, I had my female-centric film due for release. I was very sick back then. It was hard and I wasn't ready. There were all sorts of speculation going around and misinformation being spread."

"The producers needed me to promote it, otherwise, it (the film) would just die. So, I agreed to do one interview. Obviously, I didn't look the same. I had high doses of medication to keep me stable. I was forced to. Given a choice, I wouldn't have come out and announced it," she said.

Recalling her early days as an actor, Prabhu said that she would get anxious after reading some of the articles written about her and said that social media had become a platform for the public to project pain.

I was called sympathy queen by the public. My journey as an actor, as a human being, I have evolved so much. Early on in my career, I was anxious and go up (online) looking for nasty articles and what was being written about me."

"The more people accused me of things, I started to almost question every question every thought of mine. They have forced me to become the person that I can be proud of. When people are going through a lot of pain, they need a portal to project it. And social media is that portal I guess. I do really think that," she added.

On her 36th birthday, Prabhu shared a series of photos on Instagram, revealing that she underwent hyperbaric oxygen therapy for myositis.