American supermodel Gigi Hadid was invited as a guest to the launch of Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre. On Day 2 of the launch event held on April 1, Gigi attended a small concert organised inside the premises for the guests. She got a Bollywood welcome as Varun Dhawan invited her up on stage, picked her up in his arms and then kissed her on cheeks. While it was a sweet moment, several netizens slammed Varun as they felt that Gigi looked visibly 'uncomfortable.'
Several netizens took to Twitter to lambast Varun. One of the many tweets read, "If you are a woman, you are not safe anywhere with anyone. Even if you are Gigi Hadid, invited to a party with an "elite" crowd, guys like Varun Dhawan will randomly pick you up and kiss you without your consent, all in the name of fun. Disgusting (sic)." The tweet is now deleted.Hitting back at the Twitter user, Varun Dhawan wrote, "I guess today you woke up and decided to be woke. So lemme burst ur bubble and tell u it was planned for her to be on stage so find a new Twitter cause to vent about rather then going out and doing something about things . Good morning (sic)."