New Delhi: Bollywood actor Varun Dhawan performed at the inauguration of the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre (NMACC) in Mumbai last week. During his performance, the actor got supermodel Gigi Hadid on stage, picked her up, spinned her around and gave her a small peck on the cheek. He faced severe backlash online for kissing Gigi without her ‘consent.’
Gigi and Varun Gigi Hadid put the controversy to rest in their own way. Gigi shared the dance video on her Instagram story and wrote: "@Varundvn making my Bollywood dreams come true".
Varun also took to Twitter and clarified that the move was planned. He wrote, "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."
Now Bollywood choreographer Shiamak Davar, who directed all the performances for the night, addressed the controversy and told Hindustan Times that the act was planned and was actually Gigi Hadid’s idea.
“Varun told me that Gigi said to him, ‘When you are going to be on stage, bring me up’, to which he said, ‘Okay’. That’s why he picked her up. It was her idea, and everything was pre-planned,” he was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.
When asked about the controversy around the act, he said, “It is not true. It is Gigi who told Varun [to do so].” He added that he was amazed by the response that moment received: “I couldn’t believe how much they (the audience present at the do) loved it. Mukesh (Ambani) had tears in his eyes and [his wife] Nita (Ambani) was wiping them.”
Many celebrities attended the two-day inauguration event of NMACC, including Gigi Hadid, Tom Holland, Zendaya, Penelope Cruz, Karlie Kloss, Salman Khan, Alia Bhatt, and global icon Priyanka Chopra and her husband Nick Jonas, Kareena Kapoor, and Saif Ali Khan and others.