Earlier this week, it was revealed that 25 celebrities were allegedly duped of Rs 1.48 crore by a Madhya Pradesh-based energy drink company, Sky63 Energy Drinks, where over 25 artistes were not paid for endorsing the energy drink. Celebrity manager Roshan Garry Binder brought on board several celebrities, including Arjun Bijlani, Tejasswi Prakash, Ankita Lokhande, Kushal Tandon, Jay Bhanushali, Adrija Roy, and Harsh Rajput, who endorsed an energy drink but were never paid by the promoters.
Arjun recently opened up about the scam, revealing that he was promised Rs 40 lakh by the energy drink brand, but backed out last minute suspecting fraud. He shared that Garry approached him for 3-4 collaboration reels, and he agreed since Roshan was from the industry, making it easier to trust her.
Arjun usually takes an advance payment, either 50 percent or full, due to the frequent occurrence of such scams. The brand initially agreed to this, but when the time for payment came, he was asked to shoot first.
Further, Arjun shared, “There was some kind of mention of Suryakumar Yadav, so I asked them if I should speak to Suryakumar Yadav and they said it wasn’t needed. I found it a little fishy and because I didn’t get my payment, I cancelled it. I was told that some people had already done it, like my friend Ankita (Lokhande), so obviously you tend to think that if everyone has done it, it is more or less genuine. But I work on certain principles, and since they didn’t honour their commitment, I didn’t shoot for it.”
The actor revealed that he was quoted Rs 8 lakh per reel, totalling Rs 40 lakh for 4-5 reels. When he asked the brand for payment and it didn’t happen, he decided to back out.
Arjun added that it is always better to not shoot at all than to shoot and not get paid. He stated that if brands were serious about the collaboration, they would pay a 50 percent advance instead of making someone wait for 30 or 50 days.
“Agencies involved in the deals also create a lot of issues. They quote you some other price, and they end up taking some other price. I think there should be tri-party emails and confirmations so there is no cheating involved. They can take whatever the agency fee is, concluded Bijlani.
On the work front, Arjun was last seen in the cooking-based show Laughter Chefs, where Karan Kundrra was his partner.
