When a fan allegedly invaded the cricketer's hotel privacy in Perth and recorded his room on Sunday night while the charismatic batter was playing the ICC T20 World Cup Super-12 game here, the former India captain and his actor wife Anushka Sharma reacted angrily.
Kohli shared a video on social media that had previously been published by an anonymous user on another social media platform with the comment "King Kohli's hotel room." The brief film briefly pans through Kohli's lodgings.
"I understand that fans get very happy and excited seeing their favourite players and get excited to meet them and I've always appreciated that," Kohli wrote on Instagram, while also posting the video taken by the unidentified fan.
"But this video here is appalling and it's made me feel very paranoid about my privacy. If I cannot have privacy in my own hotel room, then where can I really expect any personal space at all?? I'm NOT okay with this kind of fanaticism and absolute invasion of privacy. Please respect people's privacy and not treat them as a commodity for entertainment," Kohli added.
Anushka also vented her frustration on social media about the supposed hotel room footage, writing, "Incidents where some fans have shown no compassion or grace in the past but this really is the worst thing. A celebrity ho Toh deal karna parega (if you are a star you have to deal with such things)! is an absolute shame and a violation of a human being, and anybody who sees this and believes that, "celebrity ho Toh deal karna parega" should be aware that they are contributing to the issue.
Everyone benefits from practising self restraint. Where is the limit if this is happening in your bedroom as well? Anushka inquired.
Actress Urvashi Rautela responded to Kohli's post on her verified account by saying, "Absolutely!! Immoral, unscrupulous, imagine they did the same with a girl's room #unprincipled #dishonourable," while Australian batting legend David Warner tweeted, "This is absurd, completely unethical. Was this the (hotel's name) Crown Perth?"