It was planned: Varun Dhawan on being trolled after video of him lifting Gigi Hadid goes viral

MUMBAI:  Clapping back at “woke” social media users who accused him of picking up Gigi Hadid in his arms without her “consent” at the inaugural function of the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre here, Hindi film star Varun Dhawan on Sunday said the gesture was “planned”.

In videos going viral on the Internet, Dhawan can be seen performing when he helps American supermodel Hadid walk on the stage and then lifts her in his arms. The model appeared to be surprised but then did a few steps as the actor was spinning her around and later even pecked her on the cheek.

A section of Twitter users expressed anger and disappointment over Dhawan’s conduct and the actor responded to the backlash by sharing that it was a planned move.

“I guess today you woke up and decided to be woke. So lemme burst ur bubble and tell u it was planned for her to be on stage so find a new Twitter cause to vent about rather then going out and doing something about things. Good morning (sic)” Dhawan wrote.

He was responding to one of the social media users who labelled the act “disgusting”.

“If you are a woman, you are not safe anywhere with anyone. Even if you are Gigi Hadid, invited to a party with an ‘elite’ crowd, guys like Varun dhawan will randomly pick you up and kiss you without your consent, all in the name of fUn. Disgusting (sic)” the tweet, which was later deleted, read.

Later in the day, Hadid took to social media to thank Dhawan for making her “Bollywood dreams” come true.

“@varundvn making my Bollywood dreams come tru (sic)” she wrote, tagging the actor in the caption of the viral video on her Instagram Story.

The Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre (NMACC), situated within the Jio World Centre at Bandra Kurla Complex here, was inaugurated on Friday and the fashion showcase was launched on the second day of the opening gala on Saturday.