Banning an actor for his opinion sets a dangerous precedent: Osman Khalid Butt

Actor took to Twitter to rant about cancel culture after Firdous Jamal's controversial comments on Mahira Khan


Entertainment Desk August 05, 2019
PHOTO: INSTAGRAM/OSMAN KHALID BUTT

Actor Osman Khalid Butt had something to say on Twitter recently and it all stemmed over the ongoing controversy between Mahira Khan and Firdous Jamal.

The Janaan star is the latest celebrity to indirectly share his two cents over the incident, which saw the veteran actor pit claims towards Mahira on being 'too old' to be a heroine and suggested the star play mothers instead of female protagonists now. Firdous then went on to say that he finds Mahira to be a “mediocre model” and that his comments should be taken in good faith.

Firdous Jamal and Pakistan's romance with ageism 

Needless to say, his controversial comments sparked a fire on Twitter, with celebrities such as Mawra Hocane and Humayun Saeed rushing to Mahira's defence. Osman Khalid Butt was no exception.







Now, Osman has taken to the social media platform to rant about cancel culture, after Momina Duraid vowed to never work with Firdous after his comments on Faisal Qureshi’s morning show.

The actor shared a note starting off with how banning an actor due to his opinion, "however dangerous said opinion might be, sets a dangerous precedent, because then your outrage cannot remain selective."



He called to end this cycle of pitting celebrities against one another, such as when they appear on talk shows and are asked to give their candid views for the sake of fodder, adding that the industry needs to be unified and respectful of each other.

"Problematic behaviour should and must be called out. But you cannot play at extremes either way." Osman also warned that cancel culture seems to have missed the point: "You are not allowing anyone to reflect on their mistakes, or to atone."

He concluded: "Choosing not to work with someone because of their opinions is not a violation of their free speech rights. Dismissing their contribution to our industry, though, is regrettable."



However, Firdous has quite a support network on Twitter despite criticisms against him, when the hashtag #supportFirdousJamal started trending on social media. This is thanks to the actor's son, Hamza Firdous who created the hashtag. Even Shaan Shahid and Feroze Khan chimed in, with the latter writing, "Is this where freedom of speech gets you? Getting someone's bread and butter cancelled?"

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