Vijay Deverakonda and Prakash Raj issue clarification on allegations of promoting betting apps

Actor Vijay Devarakonda and Prakash Raj issued a clarification on Thursday following the allegations on them for allegedly promoting illegal betting and gambling apps through their social media platformsIn a press statement Deverakondas team clarified that the actor entered into a contract with the company as a brand ambassador for skillbased games and endorsed the company in regions and territories where online skillbased games were legally permittedThe statement read This is to inform the public and all concerned parties that Vijay Deverakonda has officially entered into a contract with a company solely for the limited purpose of serving as a brand ambassador for skillbased games His endorsement was strictly confined to regions and territories where online skillbased games are legally permittedIt continued It is important to clarify that skillbased games including online games such as rummy have been repeatedly recognized by the Honourable Supreme Court of India as distinct from gambling or gaming The court has upheld that such games involve skill rather than chance making them legally permissibleDeverakondas team issued the press statement with the motive to eliminate any misconceptionsmisinformation regarding the actors past endorsements for online betting gamesVijay Deverakondas legal team and agencies carefully review all associations before entering into any agreements After a thorough legal review he agreed to endorse the skillbased gaming platform A23 ensuring that his association aligned with the law standards However his endorsement term ended in 2023 and he is no longer associated with the brand This press release is being issued to eliminate any misconceptionsmisinformation and to emphasise that Vijay Deverakondas past endorsement of a legally recognized skillbased gaming company was completely lawfulOn the same day Prakash Raj also issued a clarification through a selfmade video which he posted on his X handle He admitted to doing an advertisement for a gaming app but later refused to continue as it didnt feel right to himTaking to his X handle he said I have not received anything from the police station or any summons as such and when it does I will deploy but I think its my responsibility to reply and clear things for youThe actor continued In 2016 people approached me for a gaming app and I did do it But within a few months my conscience maybe it was legal but I thought that it was not right But I couldnt do anything so I let it go for a years contract Immediately when they wanted to renew I said no My conscience doesnt accept that I dont want to continueRaj claimed that he had not done any advertisements since then He saidThis happened around 89 years back and since then I have not done any ads which promote online gambling Now in 202122 this company must have been sold to somebody else and when they put these snippets of me on a few social media we did send them a notice In an email I said look No I am not part of it You cant illegally use it It has expired They stopped after that This is my replyMy response SayNoToBettingAps justasking pictwittercomTErKkUb6lsmdash Prakash Raj prakashraaj March 20 2025The Telangana police filed a First Information Report FIR against 25 celebrities and influencers including popular figures like Prakash Raj Vijay Deverakonda and Manchu Lakshmi for allegedly promoting illegal betting and gambling apps through their social media platformsThe FIR was filed at the Miyapur Police Station in Hyderabad following a complaint by 32yearold businessman PM Phanindra SarmaIn his complaint Sarma claimed that during a conversation with youth in his community on March 16 he discovered many individuals had been influenced to invest their money in these gambling apps which were heavily advertised by social media personalitiesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever