Top controversies of Karan Johar that had all the attention from media

Karan Johar has always been in the middle of one controversy or another. And yet, he’s never shied away from speaking his mind. The controversies range from setting up actors together to paying for positive reviews of his film.

Here are some of his most newsworthy controversies:

The LGBTQA+ controversy

Karan Johar was made fun of on various occasions for his sexual orientation. He has never said it out loud but has spoken about it in his book, An Unsuitable Boy, saying “Everybody knows what my sexual orientation is. I don’t need to scream it out. If I need to spell it out, I won’t only because I live in a country where I could possibly be jailed for saying this.” He also added, “The reason I don’t say it out aloud is simply that I don’t want to be dealing with the FIRs. I’m very sorry. I have a job, I have a commitment to my company, to my people who work for me; there are over a hundred people that I’m answerable to. I’m not going to sit in the courts because of ridiculous, completely bigoted individuals who have no education, no intelligence.”

Nepotism

Nepotism has been a trending topic of controversy in Bollywood for some time now. It has been sparked time and again, and Karan Johar has always been at the center of it. So much so that he has been called the “flag-bearer of nepotism” by Kangana Ranaut. And as expected, Johar handled it with utmost wit and grace.

Ae Dil Hai Mushkil controversy

This controversy came in two folds. The first one was the trouble he got into post-production. The film was released in the aftermath of the Uri attack. In its wake, the All Indian Cine Workers Association banned Pakistani artists from working in Bollywood. Fawad Khan, who played a vital role in the film, is from Pakistan. Hence, the Association asked Johar to reshoot parts that included him. The director-producer refused to do so and ended up paying a fine instead.

The second part of the controversy around this film came with its release date which was clashing with Ajay Devgn’s Shivaay. As a result, Devgn leaked a recording of a conversation between Kamaal R Khan and Karan Johar on Twitter. In the recording, the filmmaker was heard asking KRK for a positive review of his film in return for a payment. This cost Johar his friendship with Kajol, who commented “shocked” on Devgn’s tweet. However, they later made up.