Subhashree Ganguly received emails threatening murder of her children following her interaction with Lionel Messi and subsequent backlash over her photos with the football legend, she said in a statement days after Messi’s Kolkata event was marred by mismanagement and vandalism.

“I understand the anger of common people who had spent their hard-earned money but could not see their idol…The memes did not affect me as long as they were directed at me alone. But, now I am receiving E-mails and messages in which people are threatening to kill my children. As a mother, I cannot accept that. So, I have decided to speak up,” she said in a video posted on her Instagram account.

Subhashree said that after the interaction at the hotel, the organisers had requested her to proceed to Salt Lake Stadium. However, she was inside the tents when mismanagement broke out after Messi appeared on the field and several influential attendees crowded around him to take photographs.

The chaos soon prompted the football icon to leave the venue, leaving thousands of fans disappointed as they failed to catch even a glimpse of their hero despite spending hard-earned money on tickets.

Clarifying her position, the 35-year-old actress said she was neither on the field nor among the group of influential people surrounding Messi. Addressing the trolls, she repeatedly asked whether she had, in any way, obstructed their view of the field or the footballer.

The actress added that some social media users linked her to the Trinamool Congress because her husband, Raj Chakrabarty, is an MLA affiliated with the party. She explained that the photograph was meant to be posted on her Instagram page much earlier, but network jammers inside the Salt Lake Stadium had delayed the upload.

Subhashree said, “I was running late for a shoot and left the stadium in haste once the chaos began. After reaching the shoot location, I went straight to my makeup van and after that I began filming, realising much later that my photo had gone up at the wrong time and had provoked severe backlash on social media.”

However, questioning the selective outrage, Subhashree asked whether she was being targeted because she belonged to the Bengali film industry and because she was a woman. She pointed out that Shah Rukh Khan, Kareena Kapoor Khan and a South Indian actress had also met Messi and clicked photographs with him but were not trolled in a similar manner, while she faced attacks which she described as an outrage of her dignity.

Her husband, Raj Chakraborty, had earlier come out in her defence.

Taking to Instagram on Sunday, the film director-politician posted, “Certain political leaders who are making comments without being present before or after the incident, asking “Why did a film actress need to be there?” I would like to ask: how well do you really know Shubhashree Ganguly? Does being an actress disqualify her from being a Messi fan?”

The filmmaker insisted that the event that unfolded at Salt Lake Stadium had no connection to Subhashree. “Let discussions and criticism lead to solutions, not to a culture of trolling,” he signed off.

Messi’s Kolkata visit was part of his GOAT Tour of India 2025. The footballer also attended events in Hyderabad, Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi.

On the work front, Subhashree is currently awaiting the release of Lawho Gouranger Naam Rey directed by Srijit Mukherji.