Actor and standup comedian Karthik Kumar has sent a legal notice to his ex-wife Suchitra, after the latter made derogatory claims about Karthik during an interview with a regional YouTube channel. Karthik’s legal counsel sent a notice to Suchitra—a well-known playback singer and RJ—on 16 May and filed a defamation case against her for claiming that Karthik was gay. In the interview, Suchitra alleged that she had doubts about Karthik’s relationship with actor Dhanush during the filming of Yaaradi Nee Mohini. Karthik is seeking INR 1 crore in compensation for the damage this has caused to his reputation.

The case was heard by the Madras High Court on 24 May, and the judge has issued an interim ban on Suchitra from making any further comments about Karthik. The next date for the hearing is 1 July.

In response to Suchitra’s allegations, Kumar posted a video on Instagram in which he states, “If I was a homosexual, I would not be ashamed of being a homosexual.”

He also shared a video update regarding the legal notice yesterday. “The unfairness of the situation that I have been put in in the last 7-8 days and the absolute ugliness of the statements that have been made, that have been incredibly compromising of the truth and so many truths, and the backlash that I’ve been facing along with my family and my spouse can only be addressed in the most meaningful manner,” he said in the video. “Not through social media and validation but through the courts of my country.”

Karthik also goes on to state that the channels which carried these statements have also been sent a legal notice. Earlier this month, the comedian had filed a separate police complaint, after an audio clip of a man uttering casteist slurs—with Karthik’s picture on the post—went viral on social media. The post implied that the voice belonged to Karthik, an allegation that the comedian has strongly denied. “That’s not my voice, I never said those words,” said Karthik in an Instagram reel on 15 May. “I don’t even talk like that. I don’t even have that vocabulary.”