Anurag Kashyap denies #MeToo accusation against him, says 'deeply pained by false allegations' in statement released by his lawyer

On Saturday, actress Payal Ghosh accused Anurag Kashyap of sexual harassment.

New Delhi: Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap has denied the #MeToo accusations levied against him by actress Payal Ghosh, terming it "completely false, malicious and dishonest". His lawyer has released a statement on his behalf, which 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."

The statement further read, "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 fully advised of his rights and remedies in law and intends to pursue them to the fullest extent."

The statement was also posted by Anurag Kashyap on Twitter. Read here:

And here is the statement from my lawyer @PriyankaKhimani .. on my behalf .. thank You pic.twitter.com/0eXwNnK5ZI

— Anurag Kashyap (@anuragkashyap72) September 20, 2020

On Saturday, Payal Ghosh, best known for her role in 2017 film 'Patel Ki Punjabi Shaadi', accused Anurag Kashyap of sexual harassment in a Twitter post. She also tagged Prime Minister Narendra Modi in her tweet, requesting him to take action against the filmmaker. 

"Anurag Kashyap has forced himself on me and extremely badly. PMO India, Narendra Modi, kindly take action and let the country see the demon behind this creative guy. I am aware that it can harm me and my security is at risk. Pls help," she wrote.

Post which, Anurag Kashyap responded on Twitter in which he denied the allegations, claiming that they were "baseless".