Ananya Panday has been making a string of headlines recently over her statements about rejecting admission into universities abroad. However, the Student Of The Year 2 actress recently set the record straight by sharing acceptance letters from University of Southern California on her Instagram profile. Earlier in the month, Ananya was called out on social media by former schoolmates for allegedly lying about having rejected admission into universities abroad to pursue a career in film industry. Reacting to the allegations, Ananya shared the documents and wrote: "I didn't want to do this. I didn't feel like I needed to explain myself to anyone, but the rumours that I faked my admission at University of Southern California have been doing the rounds for a while now. They've been getting out of hand, and it's even more unfair and sad that my family and friends have to go through this."
Further in her post, Ananya wrote: "As I've stated earlier, I was accepted by Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at USC for a major in Communication in the Spring 2018 semester. But since I was shooting for my first film (Student Of The Year 2) and the release date later got pushed, I had to request for a deferral (which means postponing my admission) twice - first to Fall 2018 and later to Fall 2019, both of which they gracefully agreed to do. In my case, I could only defer my admission two times so I will not be attending university (for now), since I've decided to pursue my career in acting."
Commenting on people who were trying to pull her down with the allegations, Ananya wrote: " As for the people who have been trying to pull me down with these accusations, I would like to send you all lots of love, peace and positivity. And would also like to say that even though they're claiming to be my classmates (nameless and faceless) - I'm sure they aren't because I've grown up with the people I went to school with and they would never do something like that. It's never okay to bully anyone - creating fake conversations, stories and screenshots is very dangerous and can seriously damage people's lives. So please be loving, positive and kind."
Read her entire post here:
Previously in an interview, Ananya said that she was going to University of Southern California to study but dropped the idea later as she got an offer for SOTY 2. "I was all set to go to college. I was going to USC (University of Southern California) to study, but wanted to give it one shot before I left. So I went and auditioned for the film. And luckily, I got it. This is a dream come true," she told news agency IANS.
Even Ananya's father Chunky Panday, who is also known as Suyash Sharad Pandey, corroborated her statement and told IANS in a separate interview, "Yes, she got into two universities, but did not go because she got the film... I don't think she will be going to the university now."
However, social media users, who claimed to have gone to school with Ananya, alleged that the actress lied about getting into college abroad and said that she had not even applied.
It seems Ananya Panday's latest post will put an end to rumours that she "faked" university admission.
On the work front, Ananya is prepping for Pati Patni Aur Who, which also stars Kartik Aryan and Bhumi Pednekar. The film is scheduled to release in December.