Four years after their relationship sent the internet into a frenzy, former IPL chairman Lalit Modi is setting the record straight, and with a punchline. In a recent interview with Humans of Bombay, Modi pushed back firmly against the "gold digger" label that was directed at actress and former Miss Universe Sushmita Sen when the two went public in 2022, calling the criticism entirely misplaced and insisting that 'if anything, the shoe was on the other foot'.
"Sushmita is a beautiful, successful and self-made woman. She has more diamonds than almost anyone I know, and she earned everything herself. She even had diamond stores," Modi told Humans of Bombay.
He added that Sen was never financially dependent on him during their time together. "There wasn't a time when we went out and I had to pay for anything — she paid for everything. I was like a kept boyfriend," he said.
Modi dismissed the gold digger narrative with characteristic wit. "She would never accept anything from anybody. So when people called her a gold digger, that was completely wrong," he said, before quipping, "If anything, Lalit was the diamond digger." He called Sen a true "diamond."
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Sen herself had addressed the trolls at the time with characteristic sharpness. In a July 2022 Instagram post, she wrote: "I dig deeper than Gold...and I've always (famously) preferred Diamonds!! And yes I still buy them myself!!!" She also reassured fans: "Please know, your Sush is ABSOLUTELY fine...I am the Sun....perfectly Centred in my being & my conscience!!"
Modi also reflected warmly on their bond. "Sushmita was very special to me. She helped me grow into many of the things I am today and was an extremely important part of my life at that time. It was a very special relationship," he told Humans of Bombay. "I have the fondest memories of her and she's still a very dear friend. I wish her nothing but the best."
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On the now-legendary 2022 social media post that announced their relationship, Modi revealed it was entirely spontaneous. "I did it right in front of her. She didn't think I would actually post it. We were arguing about something on the plane and she said, 'You're not going to post this.'
I laughed and pressed the button," he recalled. "By the time we landed, all hell had broken loose. But we had a beautiful story and I don't regret a single minute of it."
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