Overview
- In a Humans of Bombay interview published this week, Lalit Modi defended Sushmita Sen against the 'gold digger' label and said she routinely paid for their outings, calling himself jokingly a 'kept boyfriend' or 'diamond digger'.
- Modi said the July 2022 Instagram post that made their relationship public was impulsive—he posted the photos from a plane while sitting next to Sen—and that the online reaction was immediate and intense.
- Sushmita Sen publicly rebutted the trolling in 2022 with an Instagram note asserting her independence and that she bought her own diamonds, a response reporters continue to cite as the main counterpoint.
- Multiple outlets note the relationship began in 2022 and had ended by early 2025, and Modi now says the breakup was due to the practical strain of her career being in India while his life was in London.
- The renewed coverage functions as a reputation correction that spotlights how a single viral post can trigger sustained, gendered online attacks that eclipse a woman’s professional record and personal agency.