Earlier this year, the Telangana police filed a First Information Report (FIR) against 29 celebrities and influencers, including popular figures like Rana Daggubati, Prakash Raj, Vijay Devarakonda, and Manchu Lakshmi for allegedly promoting illegal betting and gambling apps through their social media platforms.
Sources close to Rana Daggubati had told NDTV that a legal team had vetted the endorsement contract before he signed it. He also said Rana had only promoted skill-based games that the Supreme Court has said are legal, that too in regions where it is allowed, and his association had ended in 2017.
Complainant PM Phanindra Sarma, a 32-year-old businessman, had claimed that celebrities are allegedly accepting large sums of money to promote various betting platforms, which encourage users to gamble their hard-earned money.
What are your thoughts in this? Do you think celebrities should not be allowed to promote gambling or should they just be more careful about what kind of gambling they are promoting? Is it ok as long as any gambling promoted is legal?
It seems they don't play about this in some countries and I think that's how it should be. But if the gambling company is legit and doesn't scam people then there's absolutely nothing wrong with taking endorsement deals from gambling companies. In my country celebrities help to advertise scam casinos and this is actually the main problem and it's what must be corrected but no one cares to call them out