Shilpa Shetty cleared of obscenity charges 15 years after Richard Gere kiss

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An Indian court has cleared Shilpa Shetty of obscenity charges nearly 15 years after she was kissed on stage by Richard Gere.

The Bollywood actor appeared with the Pretty Woman star at an Aids awareness event in Mumbai in March 2007, when he hugged her and kissed her cheek several times in front of the crowd.

At the time, the incident was met with protests by some radical Hindu groups who considered it to be an insult to Indian values. Effigies using both their images were burnt in the streets.

Gere apologised after the backlash, claiming that he had been trying to demonstrate that kissing was a safe activity that could not lead to HIV transmission.

India’s Supreme Court threw out an arrest warrant for Gere soon after the event, waving off the claims against the actor as being filed for “cheap publicity”.

However, the obscenity charges against Shetty for the same incident were only dismissed in Mumbai last week, after the case had stalled in India’s legal system for nearly a decade and a half.

The obscenity charges were deemed “groundless” and the court ruled that Shetty had been subject to an unwanted advance from the Hollywood A-lister.

“It seems that… Shilpa Shetty is the victim of alleged act of accused No 1 [Richard Gere],” the order said.

Soon after the 2007 incident, Celebrity Big Brother winner Shetty defended Gere’s actions as an attempt to entertain the audience, though she admitted that his actions “embarrassed” her.

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She said: “He especially told me to tell the media that he didn’t want to hurt any sensibilities, any Indian sensibilities, and he apologised to me profusely. I was embarrassed.”

Shetty has not yet responded to the recent dismissal of the charges.

The Independent has contacted Shetty and Gere for comment.