A day after the news of her death due to Cervical Cancer went viral across social media and credible news platforms, Poonam Pandey disclosed that this post on her Insta handle was a publicity stunt and meant to increase awareness on Cervical Cancer. Many celebrities and well wishers had expressed doubts on the reason of death and called it a possible stunt, which it actually turned out to be.

The All India Cine Workers Association (AICWA) has called it a distasteful attempt to garner attention and exponentially increase views on her social media accounts, under the guise of raising awareness on Cervical Cancer. The AICWA also added that such stunts harm the credibility of the Industry. The AICWA has demanded strict legal action and FIR against the "publicity hungry" model and actress, who is already well known for her controversial posts, photos and actions.

The official X (Twitter) handle of AICWA mentioned that no one in the industry has stooped to such low levels for publicity or PR. They add that the fake death news stunt is in bad taste and and FIR should be lodged against Pandey.

The Fake PR stunt by Model and Actress Poonam Pandey is highly wrong. Using the guise of Cervical Cancer for self-promotion is not acceptable.

After this news, people may hesitate to believe any Death news in the Indian film industry. No one in the film industry Stoops to such… pic.twitter.com/CnKmmsCUoQ

— All Indian Cine Workers Association (@AICWAofficial) February 3, 2024

Journalist and Film Critic Subhash Jha in his column in TimesNow, said that Poonam Pandey is alive but her conscience is not. He said that the publicity stunt in the name of promoting awareness of Cervical Cancer was a gimmick in bad taste and that Poonam herself is the part of the most rampant cancer of our times, the PAAC (Publicity At Any Cost) Cancer.