Naga Chaitanya called out for not even naming Samantha Ruth Prabhu in statement on Konda Surekha: ‘Kept saying spouse’

A huge controversy erupted this past week when Telangana minister Konda Surekha claimed that Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Naga Chaitanya’s divorce was part of a political conspiracy. After the entire film industry – including Samantha and Chaitanya themselves – slammed Surekha, the politician retracted her statement. But even as Surekha copped a lot of criticism, many fans were quick to call Chaitanya out, too, as his statement did not even mention Samantha by name. (Also read: Naga Chaitanya supports ‘earlier spouse’ Samantha Ruth Prabhu after minister’s comment)

What Chaitanya said

On October 1, Konda Surekha claimed that her political rival KTR had ‘blackmailed’ Samantha into divorcing Chaitanya. Samantha released a statement later that night calling for Surekha to not draw her into political battles. Chaitanya also issued a statement the following day, but many fans felt the wordings were too vague. In fact, Chaitanya did not even name Samantha in the entire 150-word statement, merely referring to her as ‘earlier spouse’, a rather awkward and archaic term.

Samantha’s fans react

On X (formerly Twitter), Chaitanya’s tweet carrying the statement was shared widely by fans of Samantha, calling him out. One wrote, “Kept using the words spouse.. couldn’t once take her name.” Another added, “Man fumbled so bad, can’t even name her.” One fan quipped, referring to the Harry Potter villain Lord Voldemort, “So Samantha is Voldemort, she who must not be named.”

Many others complained that Chaitanya spoke up now when his family was dragged into the mud but had stayed quiet when Samantha was slut-shamed after the divorce. “‘Former spouse,’ ‘earlier spouse’ anything but saying her actual name. Respect so deep that he threw her to the wolves who have shamed her in every possible way,” wrote one Twitter user.

Konda Surekha’s remarks have drawn large-scale criticism from within the Telugu film industry, with many artists and filmmakers tweeting against her with the hashtag #FilmIndustryWillNotTolerate. Chaitanya and his father, Nagarjuna, have also filed a defamation case against Konda Surekha for her remarks.