On April 15, 2007, Shetty was kissed several times in jest on the cheek by Richard Gere during an AIDS-awareness event.[87] The pair had appeared at a press conference in New Delhi as part of a campaign to preach safe sex to truck drivers in India and promotion of AIDS awareness.

The kiss, considered an attack on India's cultural and moral values, prompted protesters—alleged members of the right-wing Hindu nationalist group Shiv Sena—to beat burning effigies of Gere with sticks. Others set fire to glamour shots of Shetty. People demanded an apology from her and threatened to ban her movies in the state. Shiv Sena leaders denied involvement in the protests, but Shiv Sena member of parliament Sanjay Raut observed that the protests are "just a manifestation of the anger of the general public" and that there was "nothing wrong with expressing contempt at such an act"

Similar protests broke out in other cities, including Varanasi, Hinduism's holiest city, and in the northern town of Meerut, where crowds of hundreds of thousands chanted "Down with Shilpa Shetty!" Star News Office was also attacked. The protests did not take any violent turn and the situation was quickly brought under control with some activists being detained.

Shetty responded to these protests by saying "I understand this (kissing) is his (Gere's) culture, not ours. But this was not such a big thing or so obscene for people to overreact in such a manner. I understand people's sentiments, but I do not want a foreigner to take bad memories from here."

On April 26, 2007 an Indian court in Rajasthan issued a warrant for Shetty and Gere's arrest.

The legal action against both Shetty and Gere has been suspended by the Indian Supreme Court until the court decides on the case's proper jurisdiction. Gere has since expressed regret for causing any offense and Shetty has stated: "so much has been blown out of proportion"