Republic TV Harasses Pradyumn’s Father to Get ‘First’ Interview
An enraged Republic TV representative was seen snatching Varun Thakur’s lapel mic.
Republic TV has one more feather to add to its cap of controversies. On 11 September, one of its female guest coordinators was caught on camera misbehaving with Varun Thakur, the father of the seven-year-old who was found murdered in a toilet of Ryan International School, Gurugram.
Thakur, who has been appearing on news channels since his son's murder, was scheduled to appear for an interview with Times Now and Republic TV.
According to Times Now, Thakur had agreed to give a live interview to their channel first. Times Now is Arnab Goswami’s erstwhile TV channel where he used to host its prime time show before he launched Republic TV.
Interview Room Turns Boxing Ring
Thakur’s interview room turned into a boxing ring of sorts, with representatives of two different media houses tussled to get Thakur’s bites.
First, the Republic TV guest coordinator (identified as the woman dressed in black) appearing to be agitatedly talking on her phone, suddenly grabbed the lapel mic pinned to Thakur, possibly following directions from the top bosses?
The Times Now representative, dressed in grey, flung herself onto the woman in black, physically holding her back, in an attempt to let the interview run smoothly. But little did they know that the entire action-adventure was videographed live on TV.
A Times Now reporter told Janta Ka Reporter, “The entire ugly scene went on live as we had already gone on air with Mr Thakur’s interview.”
Republic TV’s distasteful conduct didn’t go unnoticed; in fact, it was severely criticised by other journalists and media houses for its insensitivity and aggressive behaviour, given its reputation as a trouble-maker.
Earlier, a video had emerged showing Republic TV's journalists harassing Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, demanding him to answer questions about the death of his former wife Sunanda Pushkar.
(#TalkingStalking: Have you ever been stalked? Share your experience with The Quint and inspire others to shatter the silence surrounding stalking. Send your stories to editor@thequint.com or WhatsApp @ +919999008335.)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)