Karan Johar apologises for Hardik Pandya's 'Koffee With Karan' episode: I feel responsible as it was my show
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In Davos for the World Economic Forum, the filmmaker said the boys have "paid the price" for what happened on the episode.
In what many will call Karan Johar’s late realisation, the filmmaker has now apologised for the controversial ‘Koffee With Karan’ episode starring cricketers Hardik Pandya and K L Rahul. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Karan admitted that the conversation “may have crossed boundaries” as he spoke of feeling “responsible”.
He told ET Now in an interview, "I'm not justifying the conversation that happened on the episode. I'm saying that perhaps things were said that may have crossed boundaries and I apologise because it was my platform where it happened."
Karan added that the boys have "paid the price" for what happened on the episode. "I haven't spoken about it really... I feel very responsible because it was my show and my platform. I invited them as guests and so the ramifications and repercussions of the show are my responsibility. I have had so many sleepless nights, just wondering about how I can undo this damage. Who is going to listen to me? It has now gone into a zone that is beyond my control," he said. Read the cricketers' apology here.
Karan then called himself a feminist who has been brought up by strong women and said that he has often asked similar questions to his female guests on the show. He said, "I don't defend myself when I say this, the questions I asked the two boys are the questions I ask everyone, including women. When Deepika (Padukone) and Alia (Bhatt) were on the show, I asked them those questions. I have no control over the answers that come my way. And post the show, I have a control room of about 16-17 girls. The show 'Koffee with Karan' is run entirely by women. I'm the only man there. None of them came up (with issues)."
Both the cricketers were not only slammed for the remarks but were labelled “misogynistic” and “sexist”. They have currently been provisionally suspended by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), pending an inquiry.
Karan admitted he didn’t know that this would result in such chaos as he said nobody after watching it said, “Karan, this is was inappropriate" while they did think it was "crazy or cracked".
Also read: Hardik Pandya loses Mumbai's Khar Gymkhana membership over his sexist comments on TV show
"And then there was talk about me actually enjoying the TRP. I don't care about the TRPs. This is a spin-off... It's not my career, it's theirs. I don't care about the ratings. People don't understand that an English language show is never dependent on its ratings. We are nowhere in the radar of ratings. It was not ratings, it was meant to be my show and I want to say it is frivolous. It is sometimes completely borderline ridiculous, irreverent, candid and stops making sense... That's the show," he added.
The episode was taken down by OTT platform Hotstar after the controversy gained momentum.