New Delhi: ALTBalaji, the digital service helmed by Balaji Telefilms and founded by Ekta Kapoor, on Thursday issued an apology over an ugly spat that took place between actress Kangana Ranaut and a journalist at the song launch of her upcoming film 'Judgementall Hai Kya'.
The official statement from the production house acknowledged the unpleasent turn of events that took place at the song launch event and released a statement that read :
"To whomsoever it may concern: A lot is being reported about the debate that ensued between our film JudgeMentall Hai Kya's actor and journalist Justin Rao, at the film’s song launch event on July 7th, 2019. Unfortunately, the event took an unpleasant turn. While the people involved in it fairly held their own perspectives but because it happened at the event of our film, we, as the producers, would like to apologize and express regret for this untoward incident.
We would like to maintain that our intention was not to disrespect or hurt anyone's sentiments.
Our film JudgeMentall Hai Kya releases on July 26th and we urge the media to not let this one incident hamper the team effort that has gone behind making the film."
The angry exchange took place late on Sunday during the song launch of the film 'Judgementall Hai Kya', in the presence of producer Ekta Kapoor and actor Rajkummar Rao. The argument took place after Kangana bashed a journalist for giving foul reviews to her last release 'Manikarnika: Queen Of Jhansi' and accused him of running a smear campaign against her.
Following this, A day after members of the Entertainment Journalists' Guild of India (EJGI) announced to boycott Kangana for her 'un-called for behaviour' and demanded a public apology from the actress. The members also demanded an apology from Ekta and ALTBalaji since the incident took place in their presence.
A letter from the members to Ekta Kapoor read, "We, the members of Entertainment Journalists` Guild of India, demand a written public statement from you, Balaji Films and Ms Ranaut, condemning the incident and in particular Ms Ranaut`s behaviour. We as a guild, collectively decided to boycott Ms Ranaut and give any media coverage. Rest assured, we will not let this matter affect 'Judementall Hai Kya' in any manner and will be supportive of your film and other cast members, barring Ms Ranaut."
The Entertainment Journalists` Guild has been formed, in the light of the incident that happened with the reporter on July 7. It is yet to be registered. The body will safeguard the interests of our fraternity and address issues that entertainment journalists face on a daily basis be it with actors, producers or publicist, Guild member said.
'Judementall Hai Kya' is set to release on July 26.
