Not only Kangana Ranaut, even John Abraham had called out Karan Johar for indulging in favoritism, while appearing on Koffee With Karan. Before Kangana called Karan the ‘flag-bearer of nepotism’ during a 2017 episode of his chat show, John had accused Karan of being ‘clannish’ in an episode from Koffee With Karan season 3 that aired in 2011. Also read: Kangana Ranaut reacts as fan recreates her ‘flag-bearer of nepotism’ moment from Koffee With Karan
On Wednesday, Bolly Blinds N Gossip page on Reddit shared a video of John from the old episode with the caption, “John Abraham called KJo (Karan Johar), clannish! So, John said it much before Kangana did to KJo.” In the video, Karan Johar asked John during a rapid fire round, “Aamir, Salman, Shah Rukh – according to you (who is) the Khan of the all seasons?” To which, the actor had replied, “You are very clannish. Why are you so clannish? Why can’t it be the Kumars or Devgns? Ajay Devgn has given the biggest hits.” Karan smiled and said to John, “You are just causing confusion there; you are just being a brat. What do you mean I am clannish?” John had then said, “Of course, you are.” To which Karan said, “Thanks John for being the flag-bearer of the fraternity.”
Reacting to the video shared on Reddit, a section of users spoke about Karan’s reaction to John’s statement on Koffee With Karan, and said the filmmaker did not seem offended by what the actor had said. A person wrote, “Karan took it humorously, when John called him clannish rather than being offended. Need to watch this episode. John gave fabulous answers!” A person also said, “We all know Karan Johar has the biggest crush on John Abraham.” Another one commented, “Such honest answers from John! Loved it.” Speaking about John, a person also wrote, “Introverts know what to talk, when to talk and whom to talk to.” One more wrote about him, “His answers are straight like an arrow.”
The debate on nepotism in Bollywood had started on the Koffee With Karan couch itself, after actor Kangana Ranaut had labelled Karan Johar the ‘flag-bearer of nepotism’, when she made an appearance on his chat show in 2017. Since then the two have directly and indirectly spoken about Kangana’s nepotism comment on Karan’s show in interviews and on social media.