Rashmika Mandanna threatens legal action after old private conversation about her breakup with Rakshit Shetty resurfaces: ‘Cannot stay silent any longer’

In her statement, posted across social media, Rashmika Mandanna was direct. “An old private conversation, believed to be from nearly eight years ago, appears to have been recorded and circulated without the knowledge or consent of those involved,” she wrote, adding, “A small portion of that conversation has now been deliberately taken out of context and circulated widely to create yet another discomforting controversy, strategically coinciding with recent developments in my personal life.”

🙏🏻 pic.twitter.com/DdJwFIjeP3

— Rashmika Mandanna (@iamRashmika) March 12, 2026

She did not hold back about what this had cost her. “How far can people go? In doing so, they have dragged my family along with people I share cordial relationships with, who have absolutely nothing to do with this matter, into discomfort.”

She described Thursday’s episode not as an isolated incident but as the latest in a years-long pattern. “It has been 8 years since a sustained campaign of misinformation, harassment, and targeted attacks from a section of the media and individuals online had started against me. I have watched as my words have been taken out of context, as words I never uttered were spun into false narratives, and hate has been amplified for the sake of views, reach, and engagement,” she wrote.

Through all of that, Rashmika wrote, she chose patience. She accepted that public life comes with unfair scrutiny. But the moment others, specifically her family and people she is close to, were dragged in, she decided she could no longer stay quiet. “Today, while others are being drawn into this, I cannot stay silent any longer. I choose to draw a boundary.”

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Rashmika Mandanna gave media platforms, influencers, and individuals circulating the content or related narratives 24 hours from the time of her statement to remove them. “Failing this, starting tomorrow, appropriate legal action will be initiated, including the issuance of legal notices to individuals, influencers, digital platforms, or media organisations involved in the continued circulation of defamatory or privacy-violating content, in accordance with applicable law.”

She ended the statement in Kannada: “So many people have supported me with love until now. My heartfelt thanks to all of them.
There is one thing I want to say at this time. People who deliberately talk about our private lives need to understand one thing. Can they decide how my life should be? Is our life not ours? We must make our own decisions, and we will. (sic)”

Rashmika Mandanna and Rakshit Shetty first met while working on the 2016 Kannada blockbuster Kirik Party. Their on-screen chemistry turned into a real-life romance, and the couple got engaged in 2017. The engagement was called off in 2018, with both stating at the time that the decision was mutual.

In the years that followed, public opinion was largely unkind to Rashmika. She was blamed for the split, trolled repeatedly, and accused of choosing her career over the relationship. Rakshit himself had stepped in at the time to defend her publicly, asking fans to stop judging her and noting that the public perception was skewed by how the situation was being projected. Despite that, the harassment continued.

The authenticity of the audio circulating now has not been independently verified, and neither Rashmika Mandanna nor her mother has confirmed its content.