Press Club stands by decision to boycott Kangana

The Press Club of India said that this is not the first time Kangana Ranaut and her manager-sister have insulted and abused journalists. It has become part of their unprofessional conduct.

Mumbai: The Press Club of India declared on Saturday that they stand by the decision of the Entertainment Journalist Guild to boycott actor Kangana Ranaut for refusing to apologize for lashing out at the PTI reporter Justin Rao during a press conference of 'JudgeMentall Hai Kya'.

The Press Club of India said in a statement, "We the Press Club of India is aghast, anguished and shocked at the incident involving an actress of Bollywood using uncivilised, uncultured, filthy and abusive language against the media persons. We condemn it in the strongest possible words. This behaviour and hurling abuses at journalists is unacceptable."

"We support the decision of the boycott by the journalists covering the entertainment industry in Mumbai namely Entertainment Journalists Guild," the statement read.

On Friday, the Mumbai Press Club had also criticized Ranaut's behaviour towards the news media with special attention to the PTI journalist.

In a release it said, Ranaut accused the journalist of running a "smear campaign" against her and her last release 'Manikarnika'.

Ranaut's sister Rangoli Chandel and her manager launched an "abusive" attack against news media on Twitter.

While 'JudgeMentall Hai Kya' producer Ekta Kapoor apologised for the incident, Kangana refused to do so.

The release read, "The Entertainment Journalists' Guild, which first raised the issue, has pointed out that this is not the first time Ms Ranaut and her manager-sister have insulted and abused journalists. It has become part of their unprofessional conduct."

The Mumbai Press Club said that they support Entertainment Journalists' Guild's demand of an apology from Ranaut to Justin Rao and the other journalists for her behaviour.

The Press Club of India also extended their support to the Mumbai Press Club for undertaking in-depth enquiry of the matter.

"The Press Club of India wish to appeal to the saner and civilised members of the Bollywood to prevail upon these uncivilised, uncultured and unruly elements and entities of their industry. We hope and expect that the sanity and wisdom will prevail," the statement further read.

On Thursday, Ranaut posted a video saying that she would not apologise.