Karan Johar Opens Up For 1st Time About Being Affected By ‘Gay’ Word: ‘It Pushed Me Into…’ – News18

Curated By: Shrishti Negi

Last Updated: August 31, 2023, 07:58 IST

Karan Johar gets emotional during an episode of Hunarbaaz Desh Ki Shaan. (Image courtesy: Colors/Instagram)

Karan Johar has often been subjected to trolling for his sexual orientation. The Bollywood filmmaker gets candid about the same in a new interview.

Bollywood filmmaker Karan Johar is getting candid about being trolled for his sexual orientation. Karan, who is currently basking in the success of Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani, has often spoken out about the amount of incessant hate that comes his way because of his sexuality. Now, the filmmaker has recalled how one such incident took a toll on his mental health.

In a promo of a new show ‘Be A Man, Yaar!’ by Yuvaa, Karan Johar tells host Nikhil Taneja, “Today what you call ‘gay,’ ‘fag’ or ‘homo’… said in a derogatory tone. It was called ‘Pansy’ in those days, and it was a word that had really pushed me into a shell.” The promo has received a positive response from netizens for “healthy discussions”.

Earlier, Karan talked about how he had a problem with people making the ‘gay’ word sound “bad”. “Every morning I wake up to abuse and it amuses me,” he told Arbaaz Khan on his web show Pinch. “It is my prerogative to talk about my life, my sexuality, my orientation. It is up to me. What I have a problem with is that there’s a level of homophobia and that really bothers me because that’s to me is sick. I mean you can talk about what you think my sexuality is, that is your prerogative, but if you are commenting and making gay sound bad that’s when I have a problem because that means you have a sick mind, an uninformed mind, and an uneducated thought process,” he said.

On the work front, Karan made his directorial comeback with Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani after seven years. The film starred Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt. It’s still running in theatres and has earned over Rs 300 crores worldwide.