When John Abraham called out Karan Johar for being 'clannish' long before Kangana Ranaut sparked off 'nepotism' debate

Karan Johar recently took a swipe at the nepotism' debate when he featured in influencer Orry's birthday video. The clip featured a long list of Bollywood stars sending out their birthday greets.

Interestingly, the clip ends with KJo's cheeky question, "Is this a Dharma movie? It has too many Neops!"While it was Kangana Ranaut who blew the lid open on the debate by calling Karan a 'fagbearer of nepotism', it was another star who really called out the director for his casting choices.

Flashback

Back in 2011, John Abraham featured as a guest on the show and labelled Karan as “clannish”. The actor, then promoting his work in Bollywood, was asked who he believed was the "Khan of all seasons"—Aamir, Salman, or Shah Rukh. Instead of choosing from the options, John countered the question by asking Karan why he didn’t include actors like Akshay Kumar or Ajay Devgn, who had also delivered massive box office successes. “Why are you so clannish?” John asked, implying that Johar’s questions were limited to a specific industry circle.

How Karan Reacted

Karan, known for handling such moments with humour, responded by calling John a “brat” who was trying to stir things up. He lightheartedly asked the actor to clarify what he meant, but John stood by his statement, prompting the director to dub him the “flag-bearer of the fraternity.”

Movie Front

John, most recently, starred opposite Shah Rukh Khan in the box office blockbuster 'Pathaan', which scored over Rs 1000 crore at the box office. It marked the actor's first film to cross the Rs 1000 crore mark. He played the villain in the film, which is rumoured to be returning to screens with a sequel. However, while Shah Rukh and Deepika Padukone are rumoured to be returning, there is no word about John's character.