Koffee With Karan season 6 host by the famous producer and filmmaker Karan Johar welcomed two cricketers on his couch for the first time. On Sunday’s episode, young and fierce cricket stars, Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul were invited on the show as Karan’s way of accepting more cricket in his life and paying homage to the sport.
Both the cricketers were seen talking about their personal lives in the show. Hardik Pandya with his casual and confident self talked about his affinity for Black culture and also displayed his views over women which left KL Rahul embarrassed.
Talking about his style inspiration, Hardik said he has always been a fan of how the black community expresses itself through style and fashion. He said people often wonder if he is from the West Indies.
But he also made some controversial comments over some questions asked by the host of the TV show Karan Johar, which led to his criticism by Twitterati.
Pandya spoke about meeting his female friends at nightclubs and having “conversations”, though what he seemed to focus more on was how he concentrated more on “observing there moves” rather than talking.
A thread on all the creepy, misogynist, racist, and problematic things Hardik Pandya said on Koffee With Karan:
1) KJo: Why don’t you ask women’s names at nightclubs?
HP: I like to watch and observe how they move. I’m little from the Black side so I need to see how they move.
— Sreeparna Mazumder (@Sreeep) January 6, 2019
He also passed some remarks about his family being cool with his sexual activities, which even triggered the Twitterverse.
Imagine going to your mother n talking about losing your virginity saying “aaj mai kar ke aaya”
Like seriously Hardik Pandya chhichhore.. there’s a fine line between cool and creepy! Wish aunty taught him some humility too..
Money can’t buy you manners!sigh— Prachi Das?? (@PrachiNotDesai) January 6, 2019
Hardik Pandya: “When I lost my virginity, I came home and said, “Main karke aya hai aaj”.”
HP: “At a party my parents asked me acha tera wala (women) kaun sa hai so I said yeh, yeh, yeh (pointing out women) and they were like waah proud of u beta.”
The male privilege tho ???
— Sreeparna Mazumder (@Sreeep) January 6, 2019
Most of the tweets criticising Hardik Pandya’s comments and attitude towards women called him out as both misogynistic and creepy.
Watching Koffee with Karan (or however you spell it) with Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul and the toxic masculinity and racism egged on by Karan Johar’s giggles are the reason why Indian men are encouraged to unapologetically misogynistic. Unfortunate!
— Sanjana Chowhan (@Sanjanachowhan) January 6, 2019
#hardikpandya on #KoffeeWithKaran is the reason why Parents should educate their children, teach them manners and bring them up as better human beings.
— Tommy!! (@tommy_bytes) January 6, 2019
Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul were queried a few tricky questions during the ‘Rapid-fire round,’ and in both were asked who was the better batsman between current Indian skipper Virat Kohli and cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar. Pandya gave a one-word answer saying “Virat”, and on the other hand KL Rahul said, “I’ll say Virat, yeah”.
Captain Kohli leads India to win their first ever Test series in Australia
They were also asked that who was a better captain between MS Dhoni and Kohli, for which both picked MS Dhoni without hesitation.
Twitterati also suggested the cricketers and celebrities should be more responsible in their remarks over such issues which could mislead the younger generation as they follow their idols.