Shilpa Shetty Arrested Again Over Richard Gere Kiss

Shilpa Shetty Arrested Again Over Richard Gere Kiss

Bollywood star and Big Brother UK 2006 winner, Shilpa Shetty has been arrested again following the kiss that shocked a nation. Shetty publicly kissed Richard Gere. It was an embrace that had even the most hardened Americans blushing.

'The Celebrity Big Brother' winner shed tears after being stopped at Mumbai Airport, according to reports, on her way to the opening of the Miss Bollywood musical in Berlin.

Hollywood star Gere, 58, caused an outcry when he grabbed Shetty, 32, swept her backwards, and kissed her several times on the cheek at an Aids-awareness event earlier this year.

Crowds burned posters of the two stars in protest at the kiss. Conservative hard-line Hindus claimed that the pair violated the country's anti-obscenity laws.

Gere, who is known for saucy roles in films where he exposes his private parts and backside, is a Buddhist who is already banned from entering China.

Shilpa won Celebrity Big Brother following a racial row that ultimately led to a windfall for Big Brother bettors. Shetty had been listed as a big underdog early on. Plenty of Shilpa Shetty's country folks were rooting the beauty on to win and placed bets that she would. She is widely believed to have provided one of the most lucrative wins in the world of entertainment betting.

Shetty was held at Mumbai Airport by immigration officials who had no record of a Supreme Court ruling which overturned a ban on her leaving the country. They said she was still wanted for obscenity charges over the kiss.

The star was only allowed today to join the dance troupe performing with her at the Miss Bollywood musical after prolonged questioning.

Her spokesman, Dale Bhagwagar, said: "She called me in the middle of the night and was in tears." Shetty said: "I can understand something like this if I'd committed a criminal offence.
But what was my offence, when I'm just an actor, going to perform a musical on foreign land."

Payton O'Brien, Gambling911.com Senior Editor

Originally published September 27, 2007 7:34 pm ET