When Akshay Kumar, Karan Johar And Other Stars Said Sorry!

Written By: Entertainment Desk

Aug 21, 2026 13:08 IST ⓘ

Celebrity apologies that became almost as talked-about as the controversies behind them.

Black background, white text, a folded-hands emoji and the words “I am sorry” – the celebrity apology has practically become a social-media genre of its own. One controversial comment can travel across the internet before a star’s publicist has finished typing the first draft of a clarification. Sometimes the apology arrives within hours; occasionally it follows several days of defiance, legal notices, deleted posts and trending boycott hashtags. Not every sorry is received in the same spirit.

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Some celebrities accept responsibility, while others insist they were misunderstood and apologise only for the hurt caused. From Akshay Kumar withdrawing from a controversial endorsement to Karan Johar admitting that his infamous nepotism joke went too far, these are some of the most widely discussed celebrity apologies in Indian entertainment.

1. Akshay Kumar

Akshay Kumar had built an image around fitness, discipline and healthy living, so fans were less than impressed when he appeared alongside Shah Rukh Khan and Ajay Devgn in an advertisement for Vimal Elaichi in April 2022. Critics viewed it as surrogate promotion connected to a pan-masala brand, and old footage of Akshay declaring that he would never endorse gutka began circulating faster than the commercial itself.

On 21 April 2022, the actor apologised to his fans, said their reaction had “deeply affected” him and announced that he was stepping back as the brand ambassador. He also promised to donate his entire endorsement fee to a worthy cause, while explaining that the advertisement could continue airing for the legal duration of the contract. It was a rare apology accompanied by a tangible decision – although the contractual afterlife of the commercial meant viewers had not seen the last of it just yet.

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2. Shah Rukh Khan

Shah Rukh Khan’s heated altercation with security personnel and Mumbai Cricket Association officials at Wankhede Stadium in May 2012 became one of the IPL’s biggest off-field controversies. The superstar maintained that his children had been mishandled and initially insisted that he would not apologise to the MCA. The association subsequently imposed a five-year ban on his entry into the stadium.

The story acquired an unexpected victory-scene ending after Kolkata Knight Riders won their first IPL title on 27 May 2012. During the celebrations, Shah Rukh apologised to the children present and to those who had seen him behave differently, admitting that he should not have acted in that manner. His words were directed towards children and viewers rather than an explicit apology to MCA officials. Still, with KKR’s trophy beside him, the star finally conceded that he had lost his cool.

3. Karan Johar

The nepotism debate had already become intensely personal after Kangana Ranaut called Karan Johar its “flag-bearer” on ‘Koffee with Karan’. At IIFA 2017, Karan, Saif Ali Khan and Varun Dhawan turned the controversy into a stage routine, chanting “Nepotism rocks” and making a “Bole Kangana” joke while Kangana was absent. The industry audience may have laughed, but social media viewed the performance as three privileged insiders publicly ganging up on an outsider.

On 19 July 2017, Karan accepted responsibility, saying the idea had been entirely his and that the group had gone too far with the Kangana reference. He admitted that the humour was misplaced, said he had failed to behave with dignity and expressed deep regret. His promise to stop discussing Kangana and nepotism did not permanently retire the subject – Bollywood ensured that – but the apology remains one of the rare occasions when Karan acknowledged that a carefully staged joke had become a very public own goal.

4. Priyanka Chopra

Priyanka Chopra found herself carrying the blame for a storyline she had neither written nor created when the 2018 Quantico episode ‘The Blood of Romeo’ depicted Indian Hindu nationalists plotting an attack in Manhattan and attempting to frame Pakistan. The episode triggered furious reactions in India, with much of the online anger directed at Priyanka because she played FBI agent Alex Parrish.

ABC stressed that the actress had no creative control over the episode and apologised for stepping into a complex political issue. Nevertheless, Priyanka issued her own apology on 9 June 2018, saying she was saddened that sentiments had been hurt, that causing offence had never been her intention and that she remained a proud Indian.

5. Ranveer Singh

Ranveer Singh intended to praise Rishab Shetty at the closing ceremony of IFFI 2025. Instead, his exaggerated imitation of the Daiva sequence from ‘Kantara: A Legend - Chapter 1’, coupled with his incorrect description of the sacred figure as a “female ghost”, offended sections of the Tulu and Hindu communities. Videos of the moment spread online, with critics arguing that a deeply respected tradition had been reduced to a comic performance.

On 2 December 2025, Ranveer explained that he had wanted to highlight the difficulty and brilliance of Rishab’s performance. He added that he respected every culture, tradition and belief, and sincerely apologised if he had hurt anyone’s sentiments. The statement, however, did not instantly end the legal fallout: a complaint was filed, followed by an FIR in Bengaluru in January 2026. In May 2026, he visited the Chamundeshwari Temple in Mysuru. His was a part of his apology for the Kantara mimicry row, as directed by the Karnataka High Court.

6. Hrithik Roshan

Amid the very public Hrithik Roshan-Kangana Ranaut dispute, Hrithik posted a sarcastic tweet in January 2016 suggesting that an affair with the Pope was more likely than romances being attributed to him by the media. The intended target may have been gossip columns, but the unexpected reference to the head of the Catholic Church led the Indian Christian Voice to send him a legal notice for allegedly hurting religious sentiments.

On 2 April 2016, Hrithik apologised for the hurt caused to religious or other sentiments and described it as unintentional. The episode offered an early lesson from the social-media school of hard knocks: when rejecting dating rumours, introducing the Pope into the conversation rarely makes the story smaller.

7. Ranbir Kapoor

During an August 2022 YouTube interaction promoting ‘Brahmastra’, Alia Bhatt was discussing why the team was not travelling extensively when Ranbir Kapoor looked towards his pregnant wife and joked that somebody had “phailoed”. Alia appeared surprised before Ranbir attempted to pass it off as an affectionate joke. The internet, predictably, did not laugh along.

Asked about the criticism at a promotional event in Chennai on 24 August, Ranbir admitted that the joke had not been funny and apologised to anyone it had offended or triggered. He said Alia had laughed when they discussed it later, but also conceded that his sense of humour sometimes fell flat on his own face. It was perhaps the most accurate line in the entire episode: the pun lasted seconds, while its digital repercussions continued for days.

8. Richa Chadha

Richa Chadha responded to Northern Army Commander Lieutenant General Upendra Dwivedi’s remarks about the forces being ready to carry out government orders concerning Pakistan-occupied Kashmir with three words: “Galwan says hi”. The November 2022 tweet was interpreted by many as mocking the Indian Army and the soldiers killed during the 2020 Galwan Valley clash. Political leaders, military veterans and social media users condemned it, and Richa deleted the post.

On 24 November 2022, the actress apologised if her words had offended anyone in the armed forces. She explained that her maternal grandfather had served as a lieutenant colonel and been wounded during the Indo-China war, while her maternal uncle had been a paratrooper. Her defence was that insulting soldiers had never been her intention. The larger lesson was that on social media, three casually chosen words can demand several paragraphs of repair work.

9. Vivek Oberoi

During the 2019 Lok Sabha election season, Vivek Oberoi shared a meme comparing the stages of polling – opinion poll, exit poll and result – with photographs from Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s personal relationships. The post was widely criticised as misogynistic and intrusive. Vivek initially defended it as harmless fun, arguing that people were creating an issue out of a creative meme.

The joke stopped looking harmless once the National Commission for Women issued him a notice. On 21 May 2019, Vivek deleted the post and apologised, saying that if even one woman was offended, remedial action was necessary. His reversal came less than a day after his robust defence, turning the episode into a textbook demonstration of how rapidly “people cannot take a joke” can become “tweet deleted”.

10. Siddharth

Actor Siddharth faced widespread criticism in January 2022 after responding to badminton champion Saina Nehwal with a crude pun on the word “shuttlecock”. Saina had been commenting on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s security breach in Punjab. Siddharth initially maintained that his wordplay contained no disrespect, but the National Commission for Women sought action and called the comment se**st and derogatory.

On 11 January, Siddharth addressed an open letter directly to Saina, apologising for his “rude joke” and admitting that anger over her political opinion could not justify his tone. He continued to deny malicious or gendered intent but acknowledged that any joke requiring a lengthy explanation was not a very good joke. Saina said she was happy that he had apologised, while adding that he should not have targeted a woman in that manner.

11. Nayanthara

Nayanthara’s ‘Annapoorani: The Goddess of Food’ follows a woman from a conservative Brahmin family who dreams of becoming a celebrated chef and consequently cooks and eats meat. Certain scenes – including a Muslim character’s remarks about Lord Ram and the protagonist offering namaz before preparing biryani – prompted allegations that the film had offended Hindu sentiments. An FIR was registered, and Netflix removed the film in January 2024 at the licensor’s request.

On 18 January, Nayanthara posted a multilingual statement headed “Jai Shri Ram”. She said the film had been created to inspire audiences, not cause distress, and offered a heartfelt apology to those who had been hurt. She also expressed surprise that a CBFC-certified film had been removed from streaming. It was an apology that attempted to perform two jobs simultaneously: acknowledge the hurt while quietly defending the team’s original intentions.

12. Amitabh Bachchan

A November 2019 episode of ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati 11’ asked contestants to identify a ruler who was not a contemporary of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. While three options included honorifics, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj appeared simply as “Shivaji”. Viewers considered the omission disrespectful, and the hashtag calling for a boycott of ‘KBC’ and Sony TV began trending.

Sony described the reference as an inadvertent error and displayed an apology scroll during a subsequent episode. Amitabh Bachchan also apologised on 8 November, saying that no disrespect had been intended. The controversy proved that on a quiz show where every word matters, even a missing title can become a question worth far more than the prize money.

13. Kapil Sharma

Kapil Sharma and Sunil Grover’s comic partnership was one of Indian television’s most popular, until an alleged altercation aboard a flight from Melbourne to Mumbai on 17 March 2017 sent it into prolonged turbulence. Reports claimed that Kapil, who was allegedly under the influence of alcohol, had behaved aggressively with members of his team. Sunil subsequently left ‘The Kapil Sharma Show’.

Kapil tweeted an apology to Sunil on 20 March, saying he was sorry if he had hurt him unintentionally and reminding his colleague how much he loved him. Sunil’s response made it clear that the short apology had not repaired the damage; he advised Kapil to start respecting human beings. The estrangement lasted for years before the two finally reunited for Netflix’s ‘The Great Indian Kapil Show’ in 2024.

14. Shweta Tiwari

At a promotional event for the web series ‘Show Stopper’ in Bhopal in January 2022, Shweta Tiwari made a remark about “God” taking the measurement of her bra. The clip went viral without its surrounding conversation, sparking accusations that the television star had insulted religious beliefs. Police registered a case against her under Section 295A of the Indian Penal Code.

In her 28 January apology, Shweta explained that she had been referring to co-star Sourabh Raaj Jain, an actor strongly associated with playing Lord Krishna and other deities on television. In ‘Show Stopper’, he was reportedly playing a bra fitter – hence the joke. She maintained that the line had been taken out of context but apologised for the hurt it caused.

15. Bharti Singh

An old clip from ‘Bharti Ka Show’, featuring Bharti Singh in conversation with Jasmin Bhasin, went viral in May 2022. In it, Bharti joked about food becoming trapped in long beards and women removing lice from their husbands’ facial hair. Although she had not named a religion, many viewers interpreted the routine as an insult to the Sikh community.

Bharti posted a video apology on 16 May, asking people to watch the complete conversation and insisting that she had mentioned neither Sikhs nor Punjabis. Describing herself as a proud Punjabi born in Amritsar, she apologised with folded hands to anyone whose religious or community sentiments had been hurt. She also disabled comments on the post, ensuring that while the apology could be watched, the internet’s inevitable review of it could not be posted underneath. An FIR was subsequently registered in Amritsar.

16. Mohanlal

Mohanlal’s ‘L2: Empuraan’, directed by Prithviraj Sukumaran, became embroiled in a fierce political controversy shortly after its release on 27 March 2025. Sections of the film were criticised for their depiction of communal violence and perceived references to the 2002 Gujarat riots. What began as a debate over cinematic interpretation quickly escalated into demands for changes, placing the Malayalam star at the centre of a national conversation.

On 30 March, Mohanlal apologised for the “emotional distress” caused by the film’s political and social themes. He stressed that none of his films was intended to promote hatred towards a political ideology, movement or religious community. More significantly, he confirmed that the team had decided to remove the contentious portions. The edited version reportedly contained numerous alterations and approximately three minutes of cuts.

17. Preity Zinta

While promoting ‘Bhaiaji Superhit’ in November 2018, Preity Zinta was asked about Bollywood’s #MeToo movement. Her smiling remark that she wished she had experienced harassment so she would have an answer, along with a joke suggesting that “today’s Sweetu” could become “tomorrow’s MeToo”, was widely condemned as insensitive. Her claim that people treat others the way they want to be treated only intensified the backlash.

Preity issued an apology on 20 November, arguing that portions of the interview had been edited and taken out of context. She explained that she meant she would have confronted or slapped a harasser, while the “Sweetu” line was something she had heard from a man rather than an original joke. Crucially, she acknowledged that not every survivor was in a position to fight back and apologised to women who had been hurt by her comments.

18. Sonakshi Sinha

Sonakshi Sinha landed in controversy in 2019 after using a casteist term while describing the kind of casual clothing she preferred for airport appearances. Members of the Valmiki community objected to the remark, arguing that the word had historically been used to demean them. Protests followed in parts of the country, with demonstrators reportedly burning Sonakshi’s effigy in Moradabad.

On 5 August 2019, Sonakshi issued a public apology and said that her remark had been completely unintentional. She maintained that she held the Valmiki community in high regard and had never intended to cause harm or disrespect.

Honourable Mention: Aamir Khan

Aamir Khan deserves a special mention for offering a very different kind of apology – one prompted not by an offensive statement or social media controversy, but by a film that failed to entertain. After ‘Thugs of Hindostan’ disappointed critics and audiences in November 2018, Aamir publicly accepted full responsibility for its failure. He apologised to viewers who had entered theatres with enormous expectations and admitted that the team had gone wrong, even though everyone involved had worked hard on the film.

It remains one of Bollywood’s more unusual celebrity apologies. Stars usually blame poor marketing, unexpected competition or changing audience habits. Aamir simply acknowledged that the film had not delivered.

Celebrity apologies rarely erase the original controversy. If anything, they become another chapter in it. The internet remembers the offending clip, the first defence, the eventual apology and every “if” placed before “anyone was hurt”. Yet these statements still matter. At their most meaningful, they show that public pressure can produce reflection and corrective action.