Nine times Bollywood celebrities and the media were involved in fights

After Kangana Ranaut's ugly standoff with PTI journalist Justin Rao, the Press Club of India had said that it backs the Entertainment Journalists Guild decision to boycott the actress. In their statement, PCI had called her behaviour towards journalists unacceptable.

During the press conference while promoting her latest film, Judgemental Hai Kya, Ranaut had accused the journalist of running a smear campaign against her. Further, Ranaut’s sister, Rangoli Chandel, had taken to Twitter to blast the media. On her part, Kangana had said that the constitution allowed journalists to critique, not troll or degrade.

Ranaut is not the only one to have fights with the media, though. Media and celebrities have had a long-standing love-hate relationship. While some incidences have arisen out of celebrities refusing to answer legitimate media questions, the media has also stepped out of line while entering into a celebrity’s personal space or while asking rude/irrelevant questions.

We take a look at all the times that celebrities and media personnel have fought it off in public.

Salman Khan: While much work has been done by Salman Khan’s Being Human Foundation, there has also been criticism that the organisation acts as a front to clean up Salman Khan’s bad boy image. In an interview with HuffPost during the promotions of his film Tubelight, in 2017, Salman Khan had been asked to comment about the fact that Being Human, along with the good boy roles he plays, helps create a perspective that glosses over Khan’s ‘moral transgression.’

The observation angered Khan who reacted saying, “Do you have any idea of the amount of work we do at Being Human? We do s***loads of work on a daily basis. I haven't even put my name there, man. It's Being Human. I am not even on the Board or any of the trustees. The idea is that years from now, people should forget who even started the foundation. You have no idea, man. Do one thing: Come and live my life for one day.” He then walked away from the interview.

Parineeti Chopra: Not one to mince her words Parineeti Chopra has been known to take on trolls both online and offline. Hence, during the promotions of Shuddh Desi Romance, when a sexist journalist suggested that girls enjoy ‘it’ when they are young, and when they get old, they start screaming and shouting that men exploit them, it shook up Parineeti who ripped the journalist apart.

Hrithik Roshan: While on a visit to Shirdi Sai Baba temple with his family during the release of his film Kites, Hrithik Roshan stormed at the media and photographers for entering in to the personal space of his family. Despite his repeated refusal to pose for any photographs, the paparazzi kept following and taking pictures of him. Roshan then pushed a photographer and hurled abuses at him, an act that was captured on camera.

Preity ZInta: After an article published in Mumbai Mirror claimed that Preity Zinta, the owner of Kings XI Punjab, had blamed team mentor Virendra Sehwag for the team’s defeat against Rajasthan Royals, an angry Zinta slammed the report on twitter. She blamed the media outlet for blowing the conversation out of proportion and for publishing the ‘fake news.’

Jaya Bachchan: The actress-politician is known for her hot temper and for often lashing out at reporters. Jaya Bachchan got especially peeved when, while on a family outing, the press addressed her daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, as Ash and Aishwarya. Mrs Bachchan snapped back at the gathering asking them to address Aishwarya respectfully.

Mallika Sherawat: While explaining why she divides her time between India and the United States, Mallika Sherawat had said that India is "regressive for women" and a "depressing" place to be, facing much backlash at home for her statement. At a press conference a journalist asked her why she was maligning the country at an international platform, Sherawat got angry at her, asking her to do her homework properly, and justifying her statement by saying that she had meant that the country was regressive for women, and that being a woman, the journalist should be supporting her.

Deepika Padukone: After a leading national daily objectified Deepika Padukone, she wrote a powerful open letter about consent and respect. However, at a press conference a reporter asked her why she was making such a big deal out of a ‘petty issue.’ The statement shocked Padukone who berated the journalist for belittling the issue, despite being a woman.

Alia Bhat: The actress has constantly been reminded of her GK gaffe when she named Prithviraj Chauhan as the President of India during a Koffee With Karan episode. While Alia Bhatt featured in a spoof she had made along with AIB after the incident, the actress has seemingly had enough of reporters testing her GK. So, when a reporter asked her if she knew why Holi was celebrated, she retorted asking him to name the presidents of various countries.

Shah Rukh Khan: In a TED Talks episode in 2017, Shah Rukh Khan spoke about how, after the birth of AbRam through surrogacy, there had been much speculation about the mother of the child and that he was the love child of Aryan Khan. King Khan had said that the constant questioning by the media upset him and his family.