Chetan Bhagat issues apology after his flirtatious chat goes viral

Chetan Bhagat

Columnist, screenwriter, and India's best selling author Chetan Bhagat has apologised through his facebook post after a tweet sharing his alleged WhatsApp conversation with a woman journalist, accused him of sexual harassment, went viral on social media. In a Facebook post on Saturday, Chetan Bhagat said that said he wanted "to make a couple of points about the screenshots that someone has shared" in reference to the chat where the writer is seeing to be "wooing" a woman journalist through a personal chat via social messaging app Whatsapp.

The author through his post clarified that his note on Facebook was written after he had a discussion with his wife Anusha Bhagat. While addressing the apology Bhagat wrote, "I am really sorry to person concerned. The screenshots, are of course real, and I am sorry if you felt they were wrong I hope you will accept my apology."

Screenshots of Bhagat 'wooing' a woman journalist on WhatsApp appeared on social media in connection to the ongoing #MeToo movement. Here's what the author shared on his Facebook page:

Bhagat who is considered as India's best-selling author went on to add in his post, "These screenshots are several years old, and I had met the person in question a couple of times. We hit it off really well as a friendship, and as I say in the screenshots, I did feel a strong connection with her. I did find her a good human being, sweet, cute and funny (as I also say in the screenshots)."

Twitter user who shared the whatsapp screenshots that went viral goes by the name of Sheena on the social netwroking site Twitter and is the dircetor of Lover - an online magazine. Here's what the Sheena tweeted:

The #MeToo movemnet is gaining prominence in India and especially in the entertainmnet and media industry. Just a few weeks backe actress Tanushree Dutta accused Nana Patekar of sexual harassment and and has now even filed an FIR against the veteran actor, choreographer Ganesh Acharya, director Rakesh Sarang and MNS party workers with the Oshiwara police station.

Just a few days ago, All India Bakchod (AIB) comic Utsav Chakroborty was called out by many women for sexual harassment. Ms Dutta filed a complaint with the Oshiwara Police Station in Mumbai on Saturday. In the wake of the Nana Patekar-Tanushree Dutta row, Bollywood diva Kangana Ranaut has accused director Vikas Bahl of sexually harassing her on the sets of the film 'Queen'. She also spoke up in support of the survivor, who had accused Vikas Bahl of sexual harassment.

Recalling the incident the 'Queen' fame actress shared, "He partied every night and shamed me for sleeping early and not being cool enough. I often told him off. He was scared of me but still every time we met socially, we greeted and hugged each other. He would bury his face in my neck and hold me really tight and breathe in the smell of my hair."

Netizens and twitterati's has been abuzz with both support and criticism pouring in Bhagat's post, who's all set to launch his latest book 'The Girl in Room 105'.

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