Actor, TV presenter Raghav Juyal issues clarification after being mocked for ‘racist’ comments on reality show

By ANI

NEW DELHI: Actor and television presenter Raghav Juyal recently issued a clarification regarding his statement made while hosting ‘Dance Deewane 3’, after a clip from the show, posted by him on his social media account, was mocked as ‘racist’ by netizens.

A video has been creating rage all over social media that features ‘Dance Deewane 3’ host Raghav Juyal introducing a contestant from Assam, with a monologue consisting of words like “momos” and “Chinese”.

Several social media users including Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma have criticized Juyal for being racist to the child contestant.

Assam CM tweeted, “It has come to my notice that a popular reality show host has used racist rhetoric against a young participant from Guwahati. This is shameful and totally unacceptable. Racism has no place in our country and we should all condemn it unequivocally.”

Addressing the backlash, Raghav shared a video on his Instagram handle in which he could be seen clarifying his intentions and apologizing for the hurting sentiments of his North-East Indian followers.

In the video, Raghav explained the background story of why he used a cringe Chinese language to introduce the contestant named Gunjan Sinha, on the stage of the show.

Explaining the reason behind his actions, Raghav said that Gunjan had herself shared on the show that she can speak Chinese (which was largely gibberish), and that is her second talent apart from dancing.

“Throughout the show, she would speak this made-up language in jest. So, towards the end of the show, I decided to speak in a similar way to introduce her in one of the episodes. It has been an inside joke on the show and one shouldn’t judge us with just that clip,” he shared.

Raghav also shared that he has his family and friends that reside in North-East, so he not only respects people belonging from that region but has always been vocal for standing up for them whenever their rights got violated.

He concluded the video by sharing that being called a ‘racist’ is taking a toll on his mental health.

Not only Raghav, but the fans have also targeted the show’s judges Madhuri Dixit, Tushar Kalia, Dharmesh Yelande and Remo D’Souza for cheering on such jokes.