It’s been three weeks since the most (un)popular episode of Koffee With Karan Season 6 aired on Indian television and got cricketers, Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul into trouble for their questionable behaviour. They were even suspended and ordered to return home from Australia’s ODI series, a punishment considered justifiable by all their teammates.
Although the audience continued to attack Hardik and Rahul for their insensitivity, many believed that the show’s host Karan Johar was equally at fault. It’s only recently when the filmmaker broke the stoic silence surrounding the controversy and apologised for his part. He said that he felt responsible for what happened and even spent several sleepless nights thinking about how it could be solved.
It turns out that when Karan apologised to the cricketers, they didn’t really consider it Karan’s fault. In a recent interview with India Today, Karan Johar said, “I messaged them apologising and the two of them were gracious to me and they were like – this is not your fault.” He expressed that while the episode was being shot, he never thought they had messed up. “The episode was as per the frivolous nature of the show. I thought they were conforming to the prerequisites of the show.”
He added that none of the crew members objected to the content of the show and stopped it. There was a silent acceptance of everything that was being said, while it was shot, processed and readied for release. “I am feeling guilty, it was my platform, my show and they came as guests,” said Karan.
Karan Johar can’t be blamed for the comments made by the players, but the questions that he asked following their responses were certainly problematic. In fact, the failure of other producers to correctly identify and edit these offending statements has also been questioned by all the fans. “People said you could have edited it, I didn’t realise it. There are so many women on the show, nobody realised it. But if we have offended people, we have to apologise,” he clarified.
Karan also said that he would welcome the cricketers with open arms, but he doubted they would ever come on Koffee With Karan again. “I enjoyed the fact that I was interviewing two people involved in a sport I don’t follow. I am not cricket aware and I thought I was going to have a blast and if so happened the blast was unintentional.”
He expressed that the questions he asked them were the same he asked even the girls, and thus, liked these ‘stupid, erratic questions’. “I request the cricket fraternity to give me a second chance. I will next time study up on cricket and ask them about their moves on the field.”
While Karan is currently in Davos attending the World Economic Forum, it has been declared that Hardik and Rahul’s suspensions have been temporarily lifted till the Board Of Control For Cricket In India’s (BCCI) Supreme Court hearing date gets finalised.
Source: Instagram
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