Highlights:
- Old airport clip resurfaces, sparking talk of a PR stunt
- Bella Thorne steps in, saying Priyanka did not stage anything
- Same two fans seen twice in the airport video, fuelling chatter
- Priyanka signs the sheets anyway and keeps walking
- Debate grows just as her next film Varanasi gathers momentum
Bella Thorne defends Priyanka Chopra after an old airport video of Priyanka came back into circulation and triggered a fresh wave of fake fans and PR stunt claims. The clip, shot somewhere between the terminal exit and the line of waiting cameras, set off a string of posts questioning why the same two fans approached her twice within minutes for autographs.
Bella Thorne reacted online as claims of a PR stunt around Priyanka’s airport video spread Getty Images
Why Bella Thorne defends Priyanka Chopra became the centre of the debate
The footage is not new. It goes back to 2018. Someone shot Priyanka leaving the terminal with her security, a shaky footage. Two people run up, holding out blank sheets and she signs. Then another angle outside, the same two appear again, repeating the autograph request as photographers close in.
That is what lit up comment sections, with users saying the moment looked staged for publicity. A few posts even framed it as a deliberate PR play to boost visibility around her airport outing.
Bella Thorne came across one of those posts and entered the conversation with support. “No, I do not think this is a PR stunt,” she wrote. She said autograph chasers follow actors inside terminals and often resell signatures.
How the airport video turned into claims of fake fans and a PR stunt
Bella did not stop there. She pointed out why the sheets looked blank. Collectors, she said, often use plain pages so they can later Photoshop signatures over posters or merchandise and sell them. It is a known trick in US airports. She also noted that Priyanka was simply being polite by signing twice, since the pair followed her along the route. Her take cut through a lot of the online noise.
Bella Thorne’s comment supporting Priyanka Chopra during the fake fans conversation onlineInstagram Screengrab
Where Priyanka Chopra’s work sits as the clip resurfaces
The timing of the revived airport video is interesting. She’d only been at the Varanasi event in India a short while when the old airport clip started doing the rounds again. The film with Rajamouli, Mahesh Babu and Prithviraj Sukumaran is aiming for an early 2027 release.
She also has The Bluff, where she plays a 19th-century Caribbean pirate, and the second season of Citadel on the way. Her recent action-comedy Heads of State landed on Prime Video earlier this year, putting her back on US screens.
