When the Bharatiya Jnanpith announced on Saturday that poet, lyricist and novelist R. Vairamuthu had been selected for the 60th Jnanpith Award, India’s highest literary honour, the congratulations came quickly. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin posted his wishes. Kamal Haasan went on X to call Vairamuthu his mentor and said he was “truly happy” for the honour. Rajinikanth extended his wishes too. Playback singer Chinmayi Sripaada was watching all of it.
Chinmayi had been the first to name Vairamuthu during the 2018 MeToo wave, and what followed cost her in ways she has spoken about publicly. On Saturday, she did not hold back.
In a post on X, Chinmayi Sripaada wrote: “In 2018, multiple women of different age groups named one Poet-Lyricist as their molester. Today the Jnanpith is awarded to the man… The collective voices of the women who named him were silenced. I paid a very heavy price. The rest of the women who left their dreams behind weren’t half as lucky as I.”
In 2018, multiple women of different age groups named one Poet – Lyricist as their molester.
Today the Gnanpith is awarded to the man, after someone like Sri Jayakantan, whose daughter called Vairamuthu out for presenting a forged, fake letter by Sri Jayakanthan ‘praising’…
— Chinmayi Sripaada (@Chinmayi) March 14, 2026
Chinmayi did not stop there. She also pointed out that this award came after Sri Jayakanthan’s daughter had publicly accused Vairamuthu of presenting a forged letter supposedly written by her father, praising him. And she recalled that a committee from Kerala that had earlier announced Vairamuthu for the ONV Kurup award later had to revoke the decision, after voices from their literary community rose in protest against sullying ONV’s name.
Her sharpest words were reserved for Kamal Haasan. Replying directly to his congratulatory post for Vairamuthu, Chinmayi wrote: “Men in such power in cinema transitioning to politics, completely turning a deaf ear to women who come on record to say they were molested by his uncle-mentor, must remind women who vote that men will never be on our side.”
She also pointed out that even a woman within his own party had publicly named the poet, yet he continued to support his mentor.
Her final message was the most direct of all. She wrote: “End of the day, men WILL stand by their bros, uncles, dads, and mentors. Who cares if multiple women were traumatised?”
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This is not the first time the dynamics between Vairamuthu and his industry peers have drawn fire. In 2019, Chinmayi called out Kamal Haasan after he invited Vairamuthu to the inauguration of his production house’s new office in Chennai, with Rajinikanth among others present on the dais. At the time, the decision to platform an accused person drew widespread criticism online. Nothing changed professionally for Vairamuthu. Chinmayi, on the other hand, was dropped from the Tamil Film Dubbing Union, and singing offers dried up almost entirely.
Veteran composer Gangai Amaran, one of the few in the Tamil industry to have spoken on record about the situation, recently said: “He (Vairamuthu) is a good poet but not a good human being. Vairamuthu is my friend, but I cannot ask Chinmayi not to speak about him.”
Vairamuthu, 72, becomes only the third Tamil writer to receive the Jnanpith, after Akilan in 1975 and Jayakanthan in 2002. Over a career spanning more than five decades, he has written over 7,500 film songs and more than 40 books. He has won the National Film Award for Best Lyrics seven times and is a recepient of the Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan.
Vairamuthu has not publicly addressed the sexual harassment allegations. No legal proceedings have been initiated.
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