Love Is Blind star Abhishek "Shake" Chatterjee has been called a "loser" by Deepti Vempati's brother, who has warned the veterinarian to "stay the f*** away."
Warning: This article contains spoilers pertaining to Season 2 of Love Is Blind.
During the dating show, which sees hopefuls searching for a love match before laying eyes on their prospective partners, Chatterjee, 33, was shown repeatedly expressing doubts about his attraction to Vempati, 31, after proposing to her.
While Vempati appeared to be devoted to her husband-to-be throughout the season, she ditched Chatterjee at the altar in Friday's finale episode, declaring that she "deserves somebody who knows for sure."
Vempati's defiant display was praised by fans of the show, while Chatterjee faced an onslaught of criticism not only for his behavior during the season, but for his post-altar reaction of keeping the party going after his bride-to-be left him.
On Sunday, the would-be bride's brother, Sunny Vempati, and his wife shared a statement on their respective Instagram accounts in which they lashed out at Chatterjee.
After stating that they were "so proud" of Deepti Vempati inspiring others to realize their self worth and not settle for less, they said: "We wish you didn't pick that [clown] but despite his childishness, you carried yourself with grace and continued to see the good in people."
Turning the criticism up a notch, the statement went on: "Now normally I don't get involved in drama but I'mma defend my sister here: 'Shake,' bruh, you're a loser.
"You minimized my sister's life by making some awful and cringeworthy comments about her. You made these statements knowing your own mom would one day watch it; my parents and my entire family had to sit through you talking behind my sister's back about insecurities she fought her entire life.
"Despite your comments on and off camera about her body, she continued to only ever be supportive of you, despite our best efforts to convince her to see through your BS. [THAT'S] the person she is."
Also taking aim at Chatterjee's claim that the screen depiction was worse than the reality, the statement continued: "In spite of your best efforts to pretend this was all fictional, and it was because of the 'edit,' no one forced you to say those words.
"We welcomed you into our home, and you saw it as an opportunity for clout; so forgive me if I'm not sympathetic towards you and the hate you're receiving. Good luck with the rest of your life; and stay the f*** away from my sister."
One day before the post, Chatterjee addressed the barrage of criticism he had been receiving, as he admitted to having made "some mistakes" on the show.
"I've been getting all kinds of messages—DMs, comments, emails—saying all kinds of stuff," he started his self-shot video, shared on Instagram. "I want you guys to know, I know I made some mistakes—I for sure did.
"The way it kind of played out on TV was way worse than it even was, but I know that I messed up in a lot of ways and that I'm not perfect.
"I think I'm a good person. I think if you asked somebody who knew me they'd say 'Shake's a good guy, maybe not the greatest at relationships.' Maybe there's a reason that I've been single so far."
Beckoning suggestions from social media users, he concluded: "Let's try to keep it constructive. I want to be better. If you have a suggestion for how to make me better, let me know. Maybe keep all the hate to yourself for now. I don't know, I'm a human."
In an interview with BuzzFeed, Deepti Vempati admitted that she found it "disappointing" when she watched how Chatterjee had handled their relationship.
"Shake and I had conversations about how physical intimacy and that chemistry was lacking between us," she said. "But to watch it back and see how he did it—it was kind of like, 'Oh, look at me, I'm this cool dude that's just gonna talk s*** about you to my friends.'"
"You don't talk about somebody who is your fiancé, let alone a best friend—or even just a real friend—that way."
She added: "It was kind of disappointing and hard to watch, especially because my parents were so impacted by it. We welcomed him into our home."
The Love Is Blind Season 2 reunion episode is set to debut on Netflix on Friday.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Ryan Smith is a Newsweek Senior Pop Culture and Entertainment Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on ... Read more
