The Cut publishes article accusing Priyanka Chopra of being a ‘scam artist’, apologises after outrage

On 5 December, The Cut, a website by New York magazine, ran a piece by journalist Mariah Smith titled, ‘Is Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas’s Love for Real?’ that proceeded to give ‘evidence’ to why it wasn’t. The article painted American singer-actor Nick Jonas as the victim chosen by the actress and her PR team for her to marry.

Smith wrote: While Priyanka shops around for the finer things in life her team seems to be shopping around for the finer men. During the 2017 Vanity Fair party, her manager was standing next to Priyanka when Nick Jonas got on one knee and asked the actress, “Where have you been all my life?” This young man had enough interest in Priyanka to DM [direct message] her and publicly proclaim his lust. So, as far as Priyanka’s team must have seen it: He’d landed the role."

The tone-deaf piece went on to state that, “All Nick wanted was a possible fling with Hollywood’s latest It Woman, but instead he wound up staring straight at a life sentence with a global scam artist.” It derided their wedding, calling it 'SponCon' – indicating the brands they both promote, paid for it.

The outrage against Smith’s article was widespread both in India and in the US. Chopra and Jonas got married in an elaborate wedding held in Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur, Rajasthan on 1 and 2 December 2018.

Hindi film stars, from Arjun Kapoor to Swara Bhasker, spoke out in support of the newlywed couple.

Chopra’s brother-in-law, Joe, and his fiancée, Sophie Turner, also tweeted about the slanderous piece.

The Cut updated the article to remove some of the more offensive terms, including the claim that it was all ‘a scam’. The keyword tag on the article remained on for a long time, until it too was deleted.

Later, the editorial team removed the article altogether and put up a statement and an apology when the criticism against the piece grew.

It said, “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.”