It was planned: Varun Dhawan on being trolled after video of him lifting Gigi Hadid goes viral

PTI, Apr 2, 2023, 3:08 PM IST

Clapping back at “woke” social media users who accused him of picking up Gigi Hadid in his arms without her “consent” at the inaugural function of the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre here, Hindi film star Varun Dhawan on Sunday said the gesture was “planned”.

In videos going viral on the Internet, Dhawan can be seen performing when he helps American supermodel Hadid walk on the stage and then lifts her in his arms. The model appeared to be surprised but then did a few steps as the actor was spinning her around and later even pecked her on the cheek.

Before the controversy could grow, Dhawan quickly responded to one of the tweets calling him out for the act, clearing the air that it was a planned move.

“I guess today you woke up and decided to be woke. So lemme burst ur bubble and tell u it was planned for her to be on stage so find a new Twitter cause to vent about rather then going out and doing something about things. Good morning (sic)” the “Bhediya” star replied on one of the tweets.

The said tweet was later deleted by the user.

The Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre (NMACC), situated within the Jio World Centre at Bandra Kurla Complex here, was inaugurated on Friday and the fashion showcase was launched on the second day of the opening gala on Saturday.