Jay Shetty attends a premiere for the film “This Is Me… Now: A Love Story” in Los Angeles, California, U.S. February 13, 2024.
| Photo Credit: MARIO ANZUONI
Jay Shetty, a popular social media influencer, motivational speaker and author of two best-selling books, lied about details of his early life and plagiarised social media posts, claim a report published recently by The Guardian.
The report states that the 36-year-old British Indian lied about spending three years in a temple in India, living with monks. As Shetty’s official website states about his early life, “During his school years, Jay Shetty spent vacations living with monks in India, immersing himself in their wisdom and teachings.”
The Guardian’s report questions the authenticity of Shetty’s narrative on his early life, which has been a cornerstone of his journey as a public figure, and the credibility of his identity as a self-help guru. “After graduating, Shetty forgoes a life of material success to live as a monk himself. Three years later, he has another revelation: his purpose in life is not to live the humble life of a monk but to use his preternatural oratory skills to share wisdom with the world. Thus begins his transformation into a public self-help personality and his swift rise to fame. Shetty’s success is largely predicated on this riches-to-rags-to-riches backstory.” As it goes on to state, Shetty’s former associates claim that during the time he claims he lived as a monk, Shetty predominantly spent his time at a London estate and not Indian ashrams.
In quite a few talk shows and his books — ‘Think Like a Monk’ and ‘8 Rules of Love’ — Shetty credits attending a talk by Iskon monk Gauranga Das for giving him a spiritual awakening while he was in business school in London. Shetty has stated that he later spent years in Das’ service in Mumbai. However, the report says Iskcon sources, including Das himself, and Shetty’s friends differ from these claims.
And using this false identity of a spiritual guru, Shetty earned huge sums of money, the report adds. “Shetty is hardly the first self-help guru to embellish his spiritual credentials to amass followers, but he demands huge sums of money for his guidance. Shetty has used his spiritual authority to launch a number of subscription and education services, including the life-coaching school, which charges $7,400 a term for “Postgraduate Diploma (Level 7) qualifications” – equivalent to a master’s degree.”
The report also questions the credibility of the education qualifications of the motivational speaker.
It is to be noted that this isn’t the first time that Shetty has been under the scanner. Earlier, in 2019, Shetty was accused of plagiarising social media content thanks to a YouTuber called Nicole Arbour, following which Shetty and his team removed almost 100 posts from his social media accounts.
Shetty’s self-help motivational posts have amassed a huge following over the years. His ongoing stint as the host of On Purpose podcast show further catapulted his fame, with notable names like Michelle Obama, Matt Damon, Kim Kardashian and the late Kobe Bryant being some of the guests who have participated in the show.
In 2022, Shetty officiated the wedding of Hollywood stars Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck. In June 2023, Shetty attended the White House state dinner that was hosted by the US for the visiting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
