Varun Dhawan reacts to being trolled for lifting Gigi Hadid at NMACC

Mumbai: Clapping back at ‘woke’ social media users who accused him of picking up Gigi Hadid in his arms without her ‘consent’ at the inaugural function of the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre in Mumbai, actor Varun Dhawan said the gesture was ‘planned’.

In videos going viral on the Internet, Dhawan can be seen performing when he helps American supermodel Hadid walk on the stage and then lifts her in his arms. The model appeared to be surprised but then took a few steps as the actor was spinning her around and later even pecked her on the cheek.

Before the controversy could grow, Dhawan quickly responded to one of the tweets calling him out for the act, clearing the air by saying that it was a planned move.

“I guess today you woke up and decided to be woke. So let me burst your bubble and tell you that it was planned for her to be on stage. So, find a new ‘Twitter’ cause to vent about rather than going out and doing something about things. Good morning,” the ‘Bhediya’ star replied on one of the tweets.

The said tweet was later deleted by the user.

The Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre (NMACC), situated within the Jio World Centre at Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai, was inaugurated on March 31 and the fashion showcase was launched on the second day of the opening gala on April 1.