Vairamuthu declines ONV award after severe backlash

Lyricist and poet Vairamuthu was recently conferred with the prestigious ONV Kurup Award. In his latest video, he said that he is declining the award as he doesn’t want to put the ONV Award team in a tough spot. After the award was announced, many netizens including Chinmayi Sripaada and Parvathy called out the jury for honouring a #MeToo accused. Vairamuthu was named as a sexual predator by 17 women including Chinmayi in the #MeToo movement. Based on the backlash, the ONV Cultural Academy said that they will re-examine the award.

VAIRAMUTHU DECLINES ONV AWARD

Vairamuthu has been in the news for the past few days after the ONV Cultural Academy announced an award. The ONV Award is presented to celebrities in memory of legendary poet ONV Kurup. However, this announcement was met with widespread criticism from netizens, members of the Kerala film fraternity and the Women in Cinema Collective.

Today (May 29), he took to Twitter to post a video with the caption, “I am returning my award #ONVaward (sic).”

Here’s the post:

…#ONVaward https://t.co/1ELyjBgnu6

— (@Vairamuthu) May 29, 2021

In the video, Vairamuthu said that he doesn’t want to put the ONV Kurup trust in a spot. He said that this is the reason why he is declining the award.

He also requested the Rs 3 lakh prize amount to be directed to the Kerala Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. Vairamuthu added that he will additionally contribute Rs 2 lakh to the Relief Fund.

The coveted ONV Award is usually presented to littérateurs, poets and lyricists across the country. This is the first time the award has been conferred to a non-Keralite.

In 2018, Chinmayi named Vairamuthu in the #MeToo movement and accused him of sexual misconduct. 16 other women levelled sexual harassment allegations against Vairamuthu.

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