Veteran filmmaker Karan Johar was previously under immense flak for drugging a plethora of Bollywood celebrities after MLA Manjinder Singh Sirsa claimed he was responsible for hosting a drug-fuelled party at his residence where renowned actors like Vicky Kaushal, Malaika Arora, Deepika Padukone, Varun Dhawan, Shahid and Ranbir Kapoor were photographed in a drugged state.
Sirsa had taken to Twitter to re-post a video uploaded by Karan alleging that drugs were used at his party.
While celebrities under fire have kept mum on the matter, Karan has come forth addressing the contentious allegations.
Dismissing the claims as part of a conspiracy theory, Karan asked if he would share the video himself, had drugs been actually used at the party.
“There were achieving members of the industry who were having an easy night out after a hard week of work, having a good time. I took that video with all the earnestness... would I be putting out that video if there was anything happening at all, I am not stupid,” he said while in conversation with journalist Rajeev Masand.
Speaking on how the reflection of a light near Vicky Kaushal was misconstrued as proof, he added, “Apparently you are not allowed to scratch your nose. Apparently, you are not allowed to put your phone in your back pocket. Apparently, a shadow of light is perceived to be some kind of powder.”
Karan went on to reveal that Vicky was actually recuperating from dengue and was drinking hot water with lemon.
“My mother, 5 minutes before this video, was sitting with us. It was that kind of a family, happy, social gathering, where friends were sitting and having a good time and we were listening to some music, having some good food and having good conversational energy there. There was nothing else going on,” he added.
Karan also accepted that he wonders whether he should react to the accusations, and he eventually decided not to. “I don’t react very well to these baseless accusations because that’s what they were, baseless,” he said, while accepting that he will take a more ruthless course next time, “I told them also... I am not taking this very kindly, the next time where baseless accusations, I will take the legal route. You cannot mar our solid reputations, our sincere reputations our committed reputations just because you are presuming something. You cannot put out a baseless accusation that has no base, no fact, no truth, no reality and try and mar us and our reputations, it’s ridiculous," he blasted.