EXCLUSIVE: Anu Malik asked to step down as the judge for Indian Idol 10 after sexual harassment allegations

According to sources, Sony TV, after an internal meeting has decided to drop Anu Malik as the judge for Indian Idol 10 following sexual harassment allegations against him. Read on.

By Bhavna Agarwal

Updated on Oct 22, 2018 | 01:39 PM IST | 1.4M

Singer Anu Malik was recently accused of sexual harassment by Shweta Pandit and Sona Mohapatra following which two more survivors opened up on their horrific experiences with the Bollywood singer. Malik vehemently denied knowing Sona and denied allegations levelled on him by Shweta. Following the allegations, Anu who was co-judging the reality show Indian Idol Season 10 alongside Neha Kakkar and Vishal Dadlani has been asked to step down as the judge, sources close to the development exclusively revealed it to PINKVILLA.

Ever since the allegations against Malik came to the foray, the channel, who takes the matters related to sexual harassment very seriously, had been internally discussing the matter and has now decided to drop Anu as the judge till further case is investigated. Sources confirm that he won't be shooting any further episodes. An official annoucement on the same is expected in the morning hours. We tried reaching out to Anu Malik and will update his response, if and when he does. Meanwhile, it must be noted that Anu Malik has been the only judge to have been a part of most of the seasons for Indian Idol.

Recently, while recounting her horrific experiences to Midday, one of the survivors said that she met the singer at Mehboob Studios in 1990 where he was recording a song. In that meeting, the music composer ‘rubbed his body’ against her and when she expressed shock at his behavior, he apologized meekly. Later, while she was coordinating with Anu about a fundraiser and went to meet him at his residence with her friend, Anu introduced her to his wife and his daughter. A few days later, he called her to his house for another meeting and this time the survivor went alone. He tried to get cosy and “lifted her skirt and dropped his pants.” He later apologised yet again saying he is a “passionate” person, the survivor said.