Days after the controversial comments on women by cricket all-rounder Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul on Koffee With Karan caused a furore, streaming platform Hotstar has removed the episode. The cricketers have been "suspended pending an inquiry" and will be returning to India.
Hotstar confirmed on Friday in a tweet that the episode had been taken off the platform. "Certain remarks/comments made by the guests on the episode 12 of the show may have hurt the sentiment of our users/viewers. As a responsible platform, we have removed the
episode from our platform with immediate effect," they said.
For most of the show, Pandya took it upon himself to say the most outrageous things, mostly on women, drawing massive flak. The 25-year-old boasted about hooking up with multiple women and also how open he had been about it with his parents and family.
When Karan Johar asked him why didn't he ask the women their names in a club, Pandya responded, "I like to watch and observe how they (women) move." From that to the talk about his sex life, Pandya's brashness did not taper down.
"When I lost my virginity, I came home and said, "Main karke aaya hai aaj (I did it today)," was his response to a question on how "cool" he is with his family members. "At a party, my parents asked me acha tera wala kaunsa hai (which is your woman)? I said, 'yeh, yeh, yeh (pointing out women) and they were like waah we are proud of you beta," he went on to add to stress on the "cool quotient" of his family.
The line of questioning also seemed excessively focused on women - the ones they have dated, those they wish to date, and who was the more attractive of all. "If you all hit on the same women, then how do you decide?" asked the filmmaker. Rahul's response was, "up to the woman." Pandya was more outspoken. "Nahi nahi aisa kuch nahi hai, talent pe hota hai. Jisko mila woh leke jao (Nothing like that, it's about talent, whoever gets them, takes them)," said the all-rounder with a little shrug of the shoulders.
However, Pandya later said he got carried away by the "nature of the show" and apologised for the remarks that were construed as misogynist and sexist. "After reflecting on my comments at the show, I would like to apologise to everyone concerned who I may have hurt in any way," he had tweeted. "Honestly, I got a bit carried away with the nature of the show. In no way did I mean to disrespect or hurt anyone's
sentiments. Respect," he added.
Both Pandya and Rahul being suspended following the airing of the episode, according to the Committee of Administrators (CoA) chairman Vinod Rai told PTI. They will not be playing in the first one-day international against Australia in Sydney on Saturday. The BCCI also said that the two will be issued fresh showcause notices before a formal inquiry begins.
Skipper Virat Kohli has distanced himself from the comments saying, "from the cricket team's point of view, any inappropriate comments that are made in that scenario are something that we definitely don't support... and that has been communicated (to the two players)".
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