After receiving heavy criticism for his ‘rude joke’ on Saina Nehwal, actor Sidharth on Tuesday night apologized to the badminton player. The actor, in a Twitter post on January 6, had retweeted a post by Nehwal in which he had expressed concern over the security breach during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Punjab. In his apology posted on Twitter, Sidharth began, “Dear Saina, I want to apologize to you for my rude joke written a few days ago as a reply to one of your tweets. I can disagree with you on many things. But when I read your tweet my frustration or even anger can’t justify my tone and words. I know I have more grace than this.”
In addition, he apologized for his joke. “To joke… if a joke needs to be explained, it wasn’t a very good joke to begin with. Sorry for a joke that didn’t land,” he wrote.
Siddharth clarified that he had no “malicious” intentions and is a “feminist ally”. “However, I must emphasize my word play and humor had no malicious intent, which has been attributed by so many people of all classes. I am a staunch feminist ally and I assure you that in my tweets There was no gender implied and certainly no intention of attacking you as a woman.” She concluded with the hope that she would accept his letter. “I hope we can put this behind us and you will accept my letter. You will always be my champion. Honestly, Siddharth,” he signed.
Earlier, Saina Nehwal’s father Harveer Singh Nehwal on Tuesday said that the ace Indian shuttler is unhappy after actor Sidharth made remarks against him.
The National Commission for Women (NCW) had also asked Twitter to block actor Siddharth’s account over his “sexist” tweet against star badminton player Saina Nehwal. Various activists criticized Siddhartha’s comments as “sexist, misogynistic” and demanded that he should apologize to Nehwal.
Following the controversy, Sidharth had on Monday also replied that he did not mean to insult anyone and his “subtle cock” tweet did not contain any objections. “Rooster and bull. That’s the context. Reading otherwise is inappropriate and leading. Nothing offensive was intended, said or indicated. Period,” he tweeted.
(with ANI inputs)
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