#MeToo Slur: Anurag Kashyap Releases Statement Via Lawyer

Mumbai: Following an allegation of sexual assault against him by actress Payal Ghosh, filmmaker Anurag Kashyap on Monday released a statement via his lawyer Priyanka Khimani.

The statement said that all the allegations levied against the filmmaker are completely false and that he will pursue the matter through legal means, Hindustan Times reported.

The statement read: “My client, Anurag Kashyap, has been deeply pained by the false allegations of sexual misconduct that have recently surfaced against him. These allegations are completely false, malicious and dishonest. It is sad that a social movement as important as the #metoo movement has been co-opted by vested interests and reduced to a mere tool for character assassination. Fictitious allegations of this nature seriously undermine the movement and seek to unconscionably trade upon the pain and trauma of actual victims of sexual harassment and abuse. My client has been advised about his rights and remedies in law and intends to pursue them to the fullest extent — Priyanka Khimani.”

Late on Saturday, Ghosh had said in an interview that Anurag “forced himself” on her around the time of the making of the film ‘Bombay Velvet’. She later tweeted about it as well.

Her tweet was acknowledged by the Chairperson of the National Commission of Women, Rekha Sharma.

On his part, Anurag took to Twitter to deny any wrongdoing and called all the charges against him as “baseless”.