Abhirami Venkatachalaram was defending the Kalakshetra Foundation, which has been in the news for sexual harassment charges against its faculty membersPopular singer Chinmayi Sripada, known for her outspoken nature and bold statements, has been repeatedly targeted ever since she spoke up during the #MeToo movement and named some personalities from the Tamil film industry.On April 4, the singer took to her social media and slammed actress Abhirami Venkatachalaram for defending Kalakshetra Cultural Institution, which has been accused of sexual harassment. Abhirami Venkatachalaram, who is an alumni of Kalakshetra, supported the foundation. Several people on Twitter criticised her for tone-deaf speech and asked her to watch her movie ‘Nerkonda Paarvai’, a remake of Pink, which talks about rape and consent. In her speech, the ‘Nota’ actress took a dig at the #MeToo movement and said, "This movement was started by someone. After climbing the success ladder, one shouldn't start the hashtag.' Netizens felt that she was indirectly targeting singer Chinmayi. In 2018, Chinmayi accused lyricist Vairamuthu of sexual misconduct. The singer had also faced a ban from the dubbing union when she spoke about MeToo allegations about its president, actor-politician Radha Ravi.In a lengthy note Chinmayi wrote, "Time & again have Women AND MEN in the industry have directly, indirectly shamed me. When Singer Srinivas, a man I looked up to as a mentor, told someone "You all need to understand why she doesn't get support even if her cause is just" was perhaps the most heartbreaking for me. "Yet I'm still surprised when another like Abhirami shames me, the endless optimist that I still stupidly am. Maybe I should just be grateful that time exposes people for who they are. My deepest wish - may everyone get the lessons they deserve. And may time do the needful too (sic)."Check out her Post here: Instagram Reel Speaking to the media, Bigg Boss fame Abhirami supported the institution and said, "I am an alumini of Kalakshetra and an ex-student. I am not interested in commenting on this issue as we should not always hear one side of the story. So many comments have been made on this institution, which has been running for 89 years. Nothing of that sort happened to blame the institution. Even non-Kalakshetrans are talking about the institution."She further added, " The teacher [accused] never got the opportunity to explain his stance. He has a family, a wife and a daughter. We should speak out when abuse happens."The cultural institution has been under the scanner for the past few days after four faculty members were accused of sexual harassment. Chennai police arrested Hari Padman, one of the accused.