Journalist Naeem Hanif has publicly apologised to actor Saba Qamar after she issued a legal notice against him for making defamatory comments during a podcast appearance in November.
On Tuesday, Hanif appeared on a YouTube podcast where he issued the apology.
Hanif admitted that a video about Qamar uploaded on his channel contained false claims. “I verified that news later, and it wasn’t correct, and neither was there any truth in it. It was contrary to the truth, which hurt her sentiments and tarnished her character. We are sorry for this and the hurt it caused,” he said.
Qamar responded by sharing the apology to her Instagram story with the caption “Speechless”.
The controversy began on November 1 when Hanif appeared on a news podcast and discussed Qamar’s statements about preferring to live in Lahore over Karachi.
Naeem Hanif claimed that Saba Qamar lived in a house in Lahore in 2003 and 2004 that allegedly belonged to a man she had a close relationship with.
He further alleged that Saba once visited the office of a private news organization to file a harassment complaint against the same man, where he claimed to have met her for the first time.
Qamar quickly took action and issued a legal notice to the journalist, posting screenshots of the notice in a series of Instagram stories alongside a message for her followers.
The notice claimed Hanif had “made and disseminated defamatory, sexist and derogatory statements concerning [Qamar’s] personal and moral character”. It accused him of peddling the “regressive notion that a woman’s achievements are not earned through merit or professionalism but through association with men”.
The notice also criticised Hanif’s tone, stating his statements “fell short of all journalistic standards” and accusing him of causing severe mental agony and loss of reputation.
The legal notice demanded Hanif take down the sexist and defamatory content within seven days, publicly apologise for his claims, refrain from making any further statements on Qamar’s personal and professional life, and pay the actor Rs100 million in damages.
The November 1 podcast video has since been removed from the channel.