Karan Johar says No Drugs Consumed at his Party, Slams 'Malicious Campaign'

Director producer Karan Johar says no one consumed drugs at his party, calling this a malicious campaign. He said in a statement that he did not personally know two people being probed for drug abuse allegations in Bollywood, and that they were not his "aides".

Refuting those allegations, Johar added, "Several media/news channels have been airing news reports that Kshitij Prasad and Anubhav Chopra are my 'aides'/'close aides'. I would like to place on record that I do not know these individuals personally and neither of these two individuals are 'aides' or 'close aides'."

The filmmaker said in his statement that Anubhav Chopra was not an employee at his company Dharma Productions though he had worked on two projects with the company in an independent capacity between 2011 and 2013. Kshitij Ravi Prasad joined Dharmatic Entertainment, a company linked to Dharma Productions, in November 2019 as one of the executive producers on contract basis for a project which eventually did not materialise, he said.

Neither l, nor Dharma Productions can be made responsible for what people do in their personal lives. These allegations do not pertain to Dharma Productions - Karan Johar

Media has been questioning the role of Karan Johar in nepotism in Bollywood since the death by suicide of Sushant Singh Rajput in June. Johar called this a "malicious campaign".

"In the past few days, the media has resorted to distasteful, distorted and false allegations. I hope the members of the media would exercise restraint else I will be left with no option but to legally protect my rights against this baseless attack on me," Johar added.

He slammed reports that suggested drugs were consumed at a party he had at his home last year. "These slanderous and malicious statements, news articles and news clippings have unnecessarily subjected me, my family, and my colleagues, and Dharma Productions, to hatred, contempt and ridicule."

"Don't Consume Or Promote Drugs": Karan Johar Slams "Malicious Campaign"

"I would like to unequivocally once again state that I do not consume narcotics and I do not promote or encourage consumption of any such substance," he said.

In the last few weeks the Narcotic Bureau has been probing use of drugs by top Bollywood celebrities. It has summoned Deepika Padukone, her manager, Shraddha Kapoor, Sara Ali Khan and many others.