Anu Malik, who has been accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women, may again be removed from Sony TV's Indian Idol.
The veteran musician was brought back as one of the judges of the reality show, but owing to the recent backlash, the channel is reportedly reconsidering its decision.
It has been reported that Sony TV did not expect such strong reaction on getting Anu back on the seat, and now he might have to leave the show again soon.
Channel did not expect the backlash
"Anu Malik may be shown the door in the next few weeks. They thought the backlash against him had quietly died down. They never anticipated this new rising roar of protest against his return to the show," The Asian Age quoted a source as saying.
Among many others, Anu was one of the celebrities who was accused of sexual harassment during the #MeToo movement in India. Shweta Pandit and Neha Bhasin were two of the other women who had made the allegations against him.
The singer was soon removed from the show, but he was again brought back as the controversy had died down gradually. However, recently Shweta and Neha had created a storm with tweets targeting Anu, and also slamming the channel for getting him on the show again.
Open letter slamming Sony TV
Singer Sona Mohapatra had also written an open letter to Sony Pictures, criticising the channel for the step. She had also targeted for allegedly trying to shield Anu when she was being vocal about it.
Sonu Nigam championed the cause of Anu Malik publicly & his right to be earning millions on national tv while saying he's his mother's son etc to justify his understanding of @IndiaMeToo. Had called Ram Sampath to 'keep me in check' while calling me a 'terrorist'.Must be happy now, she had tweeted.