Actress-filmmaker Divya Khosla Kumar, wife of T-series chairman Bhushan Kumar, tweeted in defence of her husband, who has strongly denied the sexual harassment allegations against him. "My husband has got T-Series where it is today purely on basis of extreme hard work. People even stood up against Lord Krishna who's praiseworthy. Though #MeToo movement is meant to clean up the society, it's sad that some people have started misusing it," read an excerpt from Divya Khosla Kumar's tweet. Bhushan Kumar's name cropped up in the #MeToo movement on Friday, after an anonymous Twitter user accused him of "propositioning her on the pretext of signing a three-film contract" and also added that when she "refused his offer, Bhushan Kumar threatened to spoil her career if she shares the story," news agency PTI reported.
"He is a man full of values and principles. It's unfortunate that people put baseless allegations without having their facts and proofs in place," added Divya Kholsa Kumar.
Meanwhile, Bhushan Kumar has reportedly filed a police complaint. Denying the allegations, Bhushan Kumar on Friday said that the tweet in question is being used to "malign his reputation," PTI reported. "I am appalled and anguished to know that my name has been dragged in this #MeToo by some anonymous person(s). The allegations against me are bad on the face of it. I have enjoyed an impeccable reputation and have always maintained professionalism. The tweet has been used as a tool to defame me and malign my reputation," he said.
Bhushan Kumar is the son of slain T-Series founder Gulshan Kumar, on whom he was co-producing a film with Aamir Khan. However, Aamir 'stepped away' from the film, following sexual misconduct allegations against a team member, allegedly Subhash Kapoor, who was meant to direct it. Hours later, Subhash Kapoor was dropped as Mogul director. He is accused of molesting actor Geetika Tyagi in 2014 and the matter is in court.
"It is our foremost duty to make our industry safe for everyone, make an industry that creates environment of equality and a better place to work. With the on-going proceedings against the director that have been brought to our notice, everyone at T-Series has decided to not work with the director," Bhushan Kumar told Indian Express.
Several prominent personalities from the film industry have been named in the #MeToo movement. Celebs like Nana Patekar, Sajid Khan, Alok Nath, Vikas Bahl, Subhash Ghai, have been outed as sexual predators in the last couple of weeks.
(With PTI inputs)
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