Twinkle Khanna Apologises In An Open Statement For Defending Akshay Kumar Over Mallika Dua Row

Check out the statement in full here

There has been another development in the whole debate over Akshay Kumar’s inappropriate comment to Mallika Dua. The superstar on his show The Great Indian Laughter Challenge, told Mallika Dua “Mallika ji aap bell ko bajao, main apko bajata hoon,” which was followed by outrage from Mallika’s father and senior journalist Vinod Dua. Following that, Mallika penned an open letter on how this issue isn’t about Akshay Kumar but for every big shot male who makes their female co-workers feel looked down upon.

In response to this, Twitter demanded a response from Akshay’s wife Twinkle Khanna, who refused to be dragged into the debate, and posted jokes on Mallika and her father. Recently bringing it up again, Twinkle posted an open letter again, and this time, its an apology for her reactions earlier. The open letter read:

“Unwise Wisecracks

As I reflect on my actions this past week, I realize that I got pulled into this debate not as a social commentator but as a wife and unlike my normal, slightly rational self, my reaction was purely emotional and without perspective, and I have been rather miserable about it ever since. I would like to apologize to everyone who felt that I was trivializing the cause of feminism especially because I strongly believe in equality and have been a feminist from the time I was a young woman, much before I even knew the term.

I think this came at a point where I was already reeling from an onslaught of abuse against various members of my family, which started with vicious and personal comments about my mother and went on to a widely shared open letter where the writer as a comeback for my comments about Karva Chauth tried to fling muck at every single member of my family. So when in this latest episode regarding my husband, my five-year-old was also dragged in for something that she had absolutely nothing to do with, I reached breaking point. And with my protective instincts in overdrive, I reacted irrationally with the only tools I have that help me retain my sanity in this fishbowl existence -words and lame jokes -though they have got me into trouble often enough in the past as well.

Once while embroiled in an earlier controversy (the story of my life it seems), I had written that a wise woman keeps her hands firmly in her pockets and does not accidentally unzip anything including her mouth. I am not this woman clearly, but I am going to try to be a little wiser from now on.”