Trigger Warning: The following article contains details about sexual assault and violence. The details may be traumatic for survivors. Reader discretion is advised.
On 14 November, Anu Malik broke the silence on the #MeToo allegations against him. He took to Twitter to post a long note detailing his own situation and why he hadn’t spoken up until now. In the note, Anu Malik denies the allegations, calling them “false and unverified”. He writes that he was “waiting for the truth to surface on its own” and that his “silence on the matter has been misconstrued” as his weakness.
“Ever since the false and unverified allegations were levelled against me, it has not only ruined my reputation, but affected me and my family’s mental health, left us traumatised, and tarnished my career.Anu Malik
In the post, Malik also asks,
“Why wasn’t this spoken about before? Why do these allegations resurface only when I am back on television, which is currently my only source of livelihood?”
Anu Malik has also said that “fighting a battle of social media is an endless process”, at the end of which there is never a winner.
“If this keeps on continuing, I will have no option but to knock on the doors of the courts to safeguard myself.”Anu Malik
Towards the end of the open letter, Malik thanks his well wishers who have stood by him and his family in this “dark phase”.
“The show must go on. But behind this happy face, I’m in pain, I’m in a dark space,” he concludes.
Most recently, singer Neha Bhasin took to Twitter to talk about her personal experience with singer and music producer Anu Malik. Calling him a “predator”, Neha Bhasin’s accusations against the Indian Idol judge were in response to a tweet by singer and TV show judge Sona Mohapatra, in which the latter talks about how her actions resulted in her losing her place as a judge on an Indian reality show. Whereas Anu Mallik, who Mohapatra had accused of alleged sexual misconduct, did not face repercussions. The tweets by Mohapatra are excerpts picked up from an open letter she posted on Facebook on Thursday.
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