Vir Das. File.
| Photo Credit: Thulasi Kakkat

Comedian Vir Das took to social media to call out film personalities who expressed displeasure over influencers walking the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival. In a note he posted on X and Instagram, he shared that he understood the appeal and eyeballs walking on a red carpet can bring to largely “unknown designers” and went on to appreciate them for their hustle. He added, “It’s not for me, but I can respect the underdog energy.” 

The comedian also took a jab at ‘film people’ by asking them to stop going on podcasts hosted by influencers and avoid collaborating with them to promote their projects if their presence at the festival evoked such negative reactions in them. 

“Consider the possibility that they may not be as well dressed as you, or as good looking as you, but are more interesting. Cannot believe I’m defending influencers but the elitism is off the hook,” he said.

In the last few years influencers like Kusha Kapila, Nancy Tyagi, Ranveer Allahbadia, Ankush Bahuguna, and Dolly Singh walked the red carpet and this year saw people like Anushka Sen, Sarah Sarosh, and Nitibha Kaul make an appearance at the festival.

Just last month, the Comedian announced the title of his memoir, The Outsider, which is set to be published by Simon & Schuster. The memoir recounts several key incidents from Das’s life, including a moment when he was stranded on a pier in Cozumel, Mexico, after his cruise ship left without him due to visa issues.