Did Apoorva Mukhija's friend Rida Tharana perform black magic on her? 'India's Got Latent' star breaks silence

Social media influencer Apoorva Mukhija recently defended her close friend Rida Tharana, who has come under fire online following a wave of backlash. The controversy began after Apoorva posted a video related to the India’s Got Latent issue, during which she mentioned someone in her life allegedly performing black magic on her.

Although she didn’t mention any names, a portion of the internet speculated that she was talking about Rida, leading to a flurry of assumptions and hate toward her friend.

Addressing the rising negativity, Apoorva took to Instagram Stories to clarify her intentions. She wrote, "After my video, there have been a lot of assumptions and a lot of hate going around and as much as I appreciate you guys having my back,. This is the last thing that I wanted. I wanted to share my story and my feelings—nothing more. So let's please not jump to conclusions or spread negativity".” Alongside her message, Apoorva shared a photo of her and Rida embracing warmly, captioned with, “Only love for @rida.tharana .”

Rida also responded to the criticism through her own Instagram Story, opening up about the challenges she’s been facing. She explained that she’s been dedicating her time to caring for her mother, who’s been unwell. Rida mentioned that she’s been financially supporting her household since the previous year and that not working would mean putting everything on hold. "Me not working means stopping everything. She hates the city and we've tried everything to make her feel comfortable. One of those things was hosting people at home. I had friends over for iftar, and for the first time in a long time, I saw her smile, laugh, and enjoy herself,” she shared.

Regarding Apoorva, Rida said she didn’t want to justify herself endlessly. “This is Apoorva’s moment, and I won’t overshadow it. I’m seeing my actions distorted, misread, and exaggerated. And I’ve said this before: society has a tendency to dislike women—women who thrive, smile, live, or simply exist.”

Rida further reflected on the emotional strain of the past two months. “If I truly wanted to fake something, I could have done it in much easier ways. If I had really been pretending for two years, the past two months wouldn’t have been this painful. I won’t explain myself anymore. To those who understand and stay—thank you. To those who don’t see the real me, feel free to unfollow. I’m not here to be flawless or famous. I just want enough to care for my loved ones, explore the world, and lead a peaceful, love-filled life. That’s all.”

She concluded her note emotionally, “Sometimes I unintentionally walk into pain. I try to avoid negativity, but some things still cut deep. Living alone in a foreign country hasn’t been easy—anxiety has hit hard. But hearing that some people still support me has held me together. I didn’t expect it, but to those who stayed kind—thank you.”

In her video titled Till I Say It Is, Apoorva revealed she consulted a tarot reader, who described the individual allegedly doing black magic on her—fitting the person she suspected.

Apoorva had appeared on India’s Got Latent, in an episode that drew outrage after YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia made inappropriate remarks about sex and parenting. While Ranveer bore the brunt of the backlash, clips of Apoorva also stirred online criticism. In response to the uproar and multiple FIRs, comedian Samay Raina, creator of the show, removed all episodes from YouTube.