Filmmaker Karan Johar, promoting his upcoming release 'Kill', said he doesn't condone violence in any form when asked about the alleged assault on actor-politician Kangana Ranaut at an airport.
"I do not support or condone any form of violence, verbal or physical," he said at the press conference.
#WATCH | Mumbai: On Kangana Ranaut slapped by CISF woman constable, filmmaker Karan Johar says, “I do not support or condone any form of violence, verbal or physical.” pic.twitter.com/WAiSHneYZx
— ANI (@ANI) June 12, 2024
Kangana Ranaut has earlier called out Mr Johar for allegedly promoting nepotism in the Hindi film industry on his show "Koffee With Karan", tagging him as the "flag bearer of nepotism" and a "nepo mafia".
Earlier, senior actors Shabana Azmi and Anupam Kher spoke about the attack on the actor, now also an MP.
"I have no love lost for Kangana Ranaut. But I can't find myself joining this chorus of celebrating 'the slap'. If security personnel start taking the law into their hands, none of us can be safe," Ms Azmi wrote on X.
"I deeply regret it. The way a woman slapped another taking advantage of her position is wrong. This should be investigated. She can have grievances, but they shouldn't be addressed by taking advantage of one's power. It's very sad and unfortunate. Any kind of violence towards anyone is not right," Mr Kher noted.
On June 6, ahead of the grand oath ceremony of the Modi 3.0 cabinet, Mr Ranaut was traveling to Delhi to collect her Parliament ID and passes. As she went for the security check at the Chandigarh airport around 3:30 pm, she was allegedly slapped by a woman CISF constable.
An FIR was filed against the constable under relevant Sections of the Indian Penal Code but no arrest has been made.
After landing in Delhi, Kangana Ranaut released a video message flagging the "rising terrorism and extremism in Punjab". Chandigarh is the shared capital of Punjab and Haryana states.
"I am getting a lot of phone calls from the media and my well-wishers. Firstly, I am safe, I am perfectly fine. The incident took place at Chandigarh airport with security staff. The moment I came out after the security check, a security staff member in another cabin came from the side and hit me on my face and started abusing me."
"When I asked her (CISF jawan) why she did this, she said she supported the farmers' protest. I am safe but my concern is that jo aatankwad aur ugrawad Punjab mai bad raha hai (the terrorism and extremism that is rising in Punjab), how do we handle that?" she said.
Passengers at the airport recorded the constable saying that her mother was among the farmers protesting the now-repealed farm laws when the actor had said the protesters were paid to sit in protest.
"She gave a statement that women farmers were sitting at the protest in exchange for Rs 100 each. My mother was also sitting there when she gave this statement. I could not tolerate my mother's insult," she was seen saying in the video that went viral.