Dear Mariah Smith,
I hope this letter finds you well, because truthfully, from what I’ve read this morning, you seem to be in dire need of a year-long vacation and some chamomile tea. Your exhaustive piece titled, ‘Is Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas’s Love for Real?’ is one of the most vicious articles I’ve happened to come across in the recent times. Your theories collectively make for a sensational story, but frankly, the only thing you can back them up with is some bottled up vial of bile you hold against India’s sweetheart.
Just to help you a little with your many pre-conceived notions about the superstar and what you term as her well-planned scam to trap a poor, helpless Nick, I’ve clarified your assumptions to the best of my humble abilities. You will also find GIFs of Priyanka laughing through this article because I assume that will be her reaction to what you’ve written. Also, The Cut pulled down the original article but we still had screenshots. So we’ve included the relevant screenshots with points to help give you context. After all, everything on the Internet stays forever!
1. Let’s start with the tone of your article. It can be described as a systematic dissing of Priyanka Chopra and despite your well presented arguments, it comes off as something that is hell-bent on discrediting PeeCee as a hardworking boss of a woman and pinning her as the perpetrator of a forced marriage. Just because she is the ‘older woman’ in the relationship and comes from a country that is different in its ways, you’ve made a case to prove she’s the wicked witch of the east. You assume that the woman who won the title of Miss World at the age of 17 and is a superstar in a country of 1.32 billion people needs Nick’s help to hold on to her fame. I don’t remember her landing Quantico or Baywatch or making it to the Forbes’ 100 Most Powerful Women because she decided to date a guy 10 years her junior. She could have totally done better for herself, but we love Nick no less!
2. You have mentioned Nick Jonas’ fixation with older women. Have you considered the possibility that he may have trapped her? Or is it just the woman’s job to do so? Her net worth, after all, is US$28 million while Nick Jonas does trail behind with US$25 Million. It may have crossed many minds that this whole thing was a well-planned scheme by both, but I don’t expect a respected publication like The Cut to stoop to the level of a tabloid. Also, it isn’t unheard for celebrities to sell the photos from their wedding or other celebrations. In this case, I’d call Priyanka a smart business woman who knows how to turn a penny around, and not a scam artist.
3. The point where you sounded unbelievably judgemental was when you decided to paint her as a gold-digger because she likes an extravagant lifestyle. If she’s earning all those millions, what else is she supposed to do? Honestly, if I was in her place, I’d be spending my money left, right and centre too – on home theatres, on diamonds, on my Jimmy Choos and everything else I could afford. I bloody well worked hard for it and in Priyanka’s words, “I work very hard to spoil myself.” Wouldn’t you do the same, Mariah? Also, did you shame Kanye for his diamond front teeth, Daniel Radcliffe for his US$17,000 mattresses, Drake for the US$50,000 he spent on a strip club or did you save this judgement only for Priyanka Chopra? Or is it that the gold taps in the bath tub are a sign of taste if they are in a Hollywood celebrity’s bath, but ‘extra as fuck’ if it’s a celebrity from India?
4. Weddings in India are a big deal, or haven’t you heard? For us, the four-day festivities weren’t surprising, it happens in most Indian families. Let me quote something you’ve said – “For the couples Sangeet, or musical night (which is typically held the night before the marriage ceremony), Priyanka and Nick’s families performed on a stage set up that’s typically reserved for events such as the Academy Awards or the Tonys.” It just shows your lack of research, love, because we do take our sangeets more seriously than you think – there is a proper dance competition between the groom and bride’s side and they are BETTER than any award functions. I’ll be sending you a wedding invite, so you can witness in person how passionate we are about our performances. If we could televise each of them, with drunk uncles dancing and all, you wouldn’t need Netflix for a year.
5. When Priyanka said that the guests will need a vacation after the wedding, she wasn’t showing off, she was stating the truth. After my brother got married, I stayed in my bed for three days because of the sheer amount of alcohol and dancing that was involved. I’m talking about hours of dancing on the dhol – it can be pretty exhausting. After all, we like to believe that you only get married once, so it needs to be celebrated appropriately. Quoting a Salman Khan (another Bollywood superstar with net worth more than a small country’s GDP) movie, ‘Our weddings are our weddings, none of your weddings!’
6. I’m just going to address one more point because recently, I promised myself to not waste my energy on narrow-minded people, and I feel like I’m breaking it. The evil eye bracelet she was wearing is a common thing among Indian families. We’ve all worn it at some point. No biggie. The fact that she cleared all rumours and said the world will know when she’s getting married was quite cool. A lot of us (about 1.32 billion) would be disappointed if she got married to Nick Jiju in a private ceremony. We love our superstars too much, so if they don’t share their big day with us, we’d be a (lot)tle unhappy.
Frankly, all through the article you sound like somebody who thinks extremely little of Priyanka Chopra as a person. You seem unconvinced by their love story, so you concluded that she must have done it for the money or the fame. It is a very janani (judgemental aunty) way of looking at things and millennials of my country look down upon it. It is, in essence, a sexist and racist way of looking at things. I’m really disappointed to see one woman pull down another in such a brutal manner. We may still be a developing country, but it’s your way of thinking that needs some development. Everything un-American isn’t supposed to be looked down upon. That, in itself, is so American of you.
Ranbir Kapoor once told a guy he was annoyed with, “TU JAA!” I say the same to you.
Always wishing you well,
Just another Indian girl who is going to force her groom to ride a horse as well!
P.S. The only daughter of Mukesh Ambani (19th Most Richest Man In The World), Isha, will be getting married this month. You’ll know what ‘Extra As All Fuck’ is when you see that. She also happens to be PC’s BFF!
Note: After the overwhelming criticism that The Cut received on various social media platforms, the publication first ‘updated’ the story to tone it down and make it more acceptable and then later pulled down the story by issuing a statement saying that “Last night, the Cut published a post about Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra’s relationship that shouldn’t have gone up. We’ve received dozens of messages from readers expressing their anger. We want you to know that we hear you and we’re sorry. The whole piece missed the mark. There is no good explanation for this other than human error and poor judgement. This was a mistake, and we apologize to our readers and to Priyanka and Nick.”
In our opinion, pushing a piece without any sort of sensitivity check is highly inappropriate. At a time, when more women are speaking up in support of women, it was extremely disappointing to see a woman of colour pull down another woman of colour. Even though their apology is the first step in fixing things, it’s too little, too late.
Also Read Our Story On Priyanka Chopra Beauty Tips
POPxo is now available in six languages: English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, and Bangla.
AWESOME NEWS! POPxo SHOP is now Open! Get 25% off on all the super fun mugs, phone covers, cushions, laptop sleeves, and more! Use coupon code POPXOFIRST. Online shopping for women never looked better!
