Designer Prabal Gurung denies dating Karan Johar: I love Karan, but as a friend, as a big brother

American-Nepalese fashion designer Prabal Gurung's dramatic wish for Karan Johar on the latter's 47th birthday on May 25 had sparked speculations about them being in a romantic relationship. Sharing an intimate picture with Karan, Prabal had written on Instagram, "Pyaar Kiya To Darna Kya. Happy birthday KJo." But it looks like, the rumours about him dating Karan Johar has disturbed him a lot. The designer has now issued a statement clarifying that he is not in a romantic relationship with Karan Johar.

Perturbed by the news of him dating Karan Johar, Prabal wrote on Twitter, "No, I am not dating ⁦@karanjohar⁩ He is my dearest friend, mentor, buddy and a big brother. Pls. Kindly read the attachement with my statement and hopefully we can lay it all to rest. Wish you all nothing but the best and love XPG."

Read the full statement here:

"Ladies and gentlemen,

Can we have some humour and levity please.I feel very saddened and disappointed to need to say this, but to officially set the record straight: I am not in a romantic relationship with Karan Johar.

My recent Instagram post of the two of us was done with humour and my absolute love of Bollywood, its melodramatic flair and the one and only Madhubala. It has subsequently been misconstrued as Karan and me being in a relationship.

Karan is one of my dearest friends. He has been someone I turn to in times of need. He is my mentor, my guru, my confidante and above all, a big brother to me. We've seen each other through our respective highs and lows. Karan is someone I deeply admire and respect. Not only has he been there for me, he's been there for my family as well. I admire his wit, his compassion, and his empathy for this world.

These reasons and many, many more, is why I love Karan. But as a friend, as a big brother, as someone who I can always count on.

To misconstrue my deep love for Karan as a romantic relationship is immature, unfounded, and frankly, very damaging in the 21st Century -in this time of incredible divisiveness and othering that is happening all over the world. I have been in a happy romantic relationship for over 5 years - with someone else - not Karan. There is not just one kind of love, one definition of love. Love is multifaceted. It's complex and nuanced.

To all the media speculating that my friendship and brotherhood with Karan is anything besides that, I would like to humbly ask you to attempt to reassess your myopic idea of love between two people, between two men. As a global society, we need to expand the horizon and definition of love. I feel that each and every one of us needs to love whoever we want to love, however we want to love them - unabashedly, openly and proudly.

#LovelsLove"