Anu Malik to be reportedly dropped as judge from Sony's Indian Idol 11 amid row over his reinstatement

Sony Entertainment Television is reportedly reconsidering the decision to have composer Anu Malik as a judge on its music reality show, Indian Idol 11. Malik was was named in allegations by multiple women during the #MeToo movement last year, which led him to step down from the role. Deccan Chronicle reports the channel will show Malik the door in the next few weeks. The report adds the channel had thought the backlash against Malik had died, and not anticipated the fresh spate of criticism against him. [caption id=“attachment_5398191” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Anu Malik. Facebook[/caption] Recently, singer Sona Mohapatra  called out the composer and Sony, for hiring him back as a judge_._ Neha Bhasin added that early on in her career, she had an uncomfortable experience with the music composer. During the pinnacle of #MeToo movement in India,  Mohapatra , had named Malik as a “sexual predator” in a statement given to Firstpost. Shweta Pandit, who debuted in the Hindi film industry as a playback singer with Mohabbatein, said Malik had promised her a song with Sunidhi Chauhan and Shaan, if she kissed him. Recently, singer Hema Sardesai took to social media to lend support to Malik. In her post, she mentioned how working with the composer boosted her career. She wrote, “If one of the decent most Singers like me cld have sung some of Anu Malik’s greatest songs, it proves there is a great Artiste in him who respected true talent and who respectfully gave me songs on merit alone (sic).” Sardesai also questioned why the singers, who accused Malik of sexual misconduct, had not spoken before. “Also if for publicity sake you are throwing stones at him, it’s not acceptable (sic),” Sardesai further wrote. Here is Sardesai’s post

Malik has repeatedly denied all the allegations. His lawyer  told  Press Trust of India at the time that the #MeToo movement was being used for his client’s “character assassination”. Following the allegations, the music composer stepped down as a jury member from Indian Idol, a singing reality show of which he was part since its inception in 2004.