Karan Johar Addresses The Hardik Pandya Debacle. Is It Too Little, Too Late?
Hardik Pandya came on Koffee With Karan and what a bitter concoction that turned out to be. His comments, delivered with swagger, created an outrage among people for being, well everything. He covered the entire spectrum from sexist to racist to misogynistic (pardon me if I’m forgetting any other adjective used to objectify women). And let’s just say, everyone was less than impressed. The duo (KL Rahul and Hardik Pandya) were sent back, stories of how Pandya refused to step out of the house made the rounds and a half-hearted apology was also issued. It didn’t stem the criticism that Pandya received. And we are glad it turned out this way.
We all know that cricketers of the country enjoy quite a following. Their hairstyles are copied, their moves dissected and young men in the country aspire to be them. For them to go on a popular show, amply display misogyny and casual sexism was appalling. Of course, the fall out has been quite severe and yes, perhaps they are being made an example of, but we needed that.
But the person who was most conspicuous with his absence or any comment was the host, Karan Johar. He has finally spoken up.
He spoke to ET Now and said, “I feel very responsible because it was my show, it was my platform. I invited them as guests and so the ramifications and repercussion 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’s now gone into a zone which is beyond my control”.
He admits for Hardik’s comments to being inappropriate (at the very least) but also states how he never imagined that things would go so sour. He continued to say, “I have to say and I don’t defend myself when I say this. I have to say that the questions that I asked the two boys are the questions I ask everyone including women. Deepika (Padukone) and Alia (Bhatt) were on the show, I asked them those questions. I have no control about the answers that come my way.”
When poked around for coming off as though he was justifying Hardik’s comments, he mentioned “I am just saying that I think that perhaps things were said that may have crossed boundaries and I apologise because it was my platform from where it happened. I feel the boys have faced the price for it already.” pointing to the disciplinary action that was taken against them by the BCCI.
While we were waiting to hear what Karan Johar had to say, perhaps this is a case of too little, too late. The actions against these cricketers have been taken, they have been put in their place and it had become a bit of a circus for a while before it died down. Maybe in this case, Karan Johar should have just let sleeping dogs lie.
