Trying too hard to clean up?
Sunny Leone denies endorsing a website selling adult products; owners call it a desperate attempt to clean up her image
Sunny Leone is apparently the face of an American website that sells blow-up dolls, but she says she has got nothing to do with it. Although imbesharm.com features videos and images of the 33-year-old Indo-Canadian porn star-turned Bollywood actor endorsing the brand and their sex products, Sunny denies any such association with the website.
“I have no association with this website... I am not the brand ambassador of this site,” she says.
The owners of the portal, however, appear surprised by her denial. “We have a signed contract. We have videos, photos and productions over $100,000. She is denying [the association] because she wants to clean up her image as she is getting Bollywood offers,” says Raj Armani, COO of the website, in an email to HT. Sunny’s husband and manager, Daniel Weber, also stands by her claim. “We have no association or contact with them,” he insists. Although ‘cleaning up’ one’s image has been the norm for most Indian actresses, experts say that if Sunny is indeed associated with the website, she must not bother.
“Somebody like Sunny Leone, who has risen thanks to her sex quotient, does not need to clean her image. She has appeared in adult films and should not bother about being associated with adult content,” says trade expert Komal Nahta, adding, “But that said, most actors generally need to clean up their image because they have to find a soft corner in people’s hearts. You have to be ‘likeable’ and ‘desirable’ (to make it big in Bollywood).”