After posting a photo of him looking ultra-ripped, actor Kumail Nanjiani has become a trending topic on Twitter, a development that has some social media watchers spreading unsound steroid rumors – and others classifying the speech as racist.
“Happy New Year! I celebrated with a pandan three leches cake from @marysmakeshop that made me rethink everything,” wrote Nanjiani, 42, below the Instagram photo he posted over the weekend modestly showing off his biceps covered in a long-sleeved shirt “I only eat Pandan cakes three leches from now on.”
The innocently captioned image inspired an extensive comment on social media about the physical transformation of the comedian, which he went through for his role in the next Marvel film, “Eternals”, starring Angelina Jolie and Kit Harington.
Many haters have since turned to Twitter to theorize whether the Oscar nominee for “The Big Sick” took steroids to gain muscle, but fans of the comedian were quick to jump in and call such speculation racist and shameful.
“Shame Kumail Nanjiani for … being robbed? It is very strange ”, explained one defender about the controversy in a now viral tweet, noting that several white actors “did the same super soldier program and never received criticism for it”.
Neither Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth nor Chis Pratt were accused of ‘roiding when they were stolen for various roles, another user noticedhowever, Nanjiani – who is Pakistani-American – faces speculation.
“Notice how you only make fun of men of color, but not of your white favorites”, another viral tweet pointed, comparing those who speculate about Nanjiani’s ability to be naturally strong with those who scoffed at actor Chadwick Boseman’s lean physical appearance before his death.
Nanjiani’s representatives did not immediately respond to The Post’s request to comment on the online debate.
However, the actor and screenwriter has already been transparent about his bodybuilding journey.
“I never thought that I would be one of those people who would post a shirtless headquarter, but I worked very hard for a long time, so here we are,” he captioned a topless image of himself in December 2019.
“I discovered a year ago that I would be on Marvel’s ‘Eternals’ and decided that I wanted to transform my appearance.” He then continues to thank the very human, not chemical, training team that helped him reach his muscles.
At the time, that photo also criticized him.