Actor Alia Bhatt yesterday slammed a media house for invading her privacy by publishing photos of her taken when she was at home. In an Instagram story, Bhatt said she was in her living room when she noticed two men, with a camera directed at her, on the terrace of the neighbouring building.

“In what world is this okay and allowed?” she wrote. “This is a gross invasion of someone’s privacy! There’s a line you just cannot cross and it’s safe to say all lines were crossed today!”

The photos carry the ETimes watermark. ETimes is an entertainment property owned by the Times Group. 

ETimes had also posted the photos on its Instagram handle using the dubious hashtag #ETimesExclusive.

Bhatt’s story was widely shared by other Bollywood celebrities. Arjun Kapoor called it “absolutely shameless”, Anushka Sharma recalled how portals had published photos of her daughter two years ago, and Karan Johar said everyone has the right to be safe in their own homes.

Bhatt had also tagged the Mumbai police in her Instagram story. ANI reported that the Mumbai police had asked Bhatt to “file a complaint in the matter”, and that Bhatt had told the police her PR team “is in touch with the concerned portal”.

This is not the first time that the media has invaded the privacy of celebrities. After the death of Sushant Singh Rajput, Newslaundry had reported on how media houses swarmed the apartment building of Rhea Chakraborty, trying to corner other residents into giving them quotes. As one reporter said, “This is pure harassment.” Read the report here.