Saif Ali Khan, Varun Dhawan, and Karan Johar had courted controversy with their much criticized ‘nepotism rocks’ remarks at the recent concluded IIFA awards. It was reported to be aimed at Kangana Ranaut, who had triggered a war of words with Johar early this year when she cheekily accused the filmmaker-producer of nepotism. While Khan had earlier dismissed his remark as joke, the actor has now penned an open letter in a daily, where he disclosed that he has personally apologised to Ranaut. 

"'Nepotism Rocks' was a joke on stage. It’s not something that I wrote or something I believe in. It was a joke on ourselves, between Varun (Dhawan), Karan (Johar) and me. It was not supposed to be a big deal, but I realised at some point, that it might have offended Kangana (Ranaut). I called her and apologised personally. That should be the end of it. Everybody needs to take a chill pill and back off,” Khan wrote in the open letter, published in DNA newspaper. 

Khan, though, was critical of the reactions from certain sections of the media terming them as the real flag bearers of nepotism.

Reams of press coverage of star kids propagates nepotism: Opinion

“The real flagbearer of nepotism, I’d say is the media. Look at how they treat Taimur, Shahid’s daughter Misha or even Shah Rukh’s son AbRam. They photograph them and hype them up to be the next big thing and the child has no choice. From a young age they have to deal with being celebrities, which they don’t really deserve, before they can even speak or talk, leave alone understand what is happening,” added Khan.

The actor also questioned why the media was not targetting political nepotism. 

"Nepotism is probably least prevalent in the movie industry and rampant in politics and business. Nepotism in dynastic politics is a well-known and unspoken truth. It’s the same in business. But nobody talks about that. Nepotism is Donald Trump putting his daughter in the White House rather than someone who is better qualified. Actors are the soft targets. So if you say star kids have an advantage, of course, they do. It’s an advantage created by the press because people are interested in them. There is a curiosity to see Taimur, Sara or Ibrahim. It’s supply and demand. People want it, media serves it. So we’re all part of the same vicious circle in that sense,” Khan opined.