Payal Dhare, better known as 'Payal Gaming' to her huge following across Instagram and YouTube, on Wednesday declared that the girl in a viral intimate video was "not me".
The social media star, who has 4.5 million followers on Instagram alone—in addition to more than 5 million followers across two YouTube channels—recently went viral for allegedly being part of an MMS clip.
"(The video) has no connection to my life, my choices, or my identity," she said on Instagram, adding that the allegations were "deeply hurtful and dehumanising".
The reports have also sparked curiosity about the streamer's net worth.
The 25-year-old reportedly earns nearly Rs 10 lakh ($10,000) per month from her streaming and brand collaborations, which puts her estimated net worth between Rs 1 crore and Rs 9 crore.
In addition to that, she also owns a retail line called Thriftxpayal.
Dhare, who hails from the Chhindwara village in Madhya Pradesh, became famous for livestreaming games like Call of Duty, BGMI (Battlegrounds Mobile India), PUBG, and GTA V.
Back in 2024, Payal and a few other Indian gamers even met PM Modi for a discussion about the future of gaming in the country.
“I had never imagined that I would become India’s leading female creator,” Dhare, the only female gamer at the table, told Modi.
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Most of her fans, who appreciated her gaming journey from not even having “a personal mobile phone in the 12th standard" to becoming one of India's biggest female content creators, have stood loyally by her side throughout the MMS clip controversy.
While most have called it a deepfake, only a few claimed that she was actually a part of the intimate video.