Journalist Naeem Hanif has publicly apologized to actor Saba Qamar after the Pamaalstar sent him a legal notice concerning "defamatory" remarks he made about her on his November 1 podcast.
The apology came during a live broadcast on Tuesday, when Hanif appeared on a podcast hosted by Bushran Khan on the RNN Network's YouTube channel. Khan provided Hanif an opportunity to address the matter involving Qamar.
During this appearance, Hanif admitted that a video concerning Qamar was uploaded to their channel on November 3. In that video, he had falsely claimed she was in a live-in relationship with someone in Lahore.
"I verified that news later, and it wasn’t correct, and neither was there any truth in it," Hanif stated. "It was contrary to the truth, which hurt her sentiments and tarnished her character. We are sorry for this and the hurt it caused."
Qamar responded to the apology by sharing the clip to her Instagram story, captioned simply: "Speechless."
The controversy originated from Hanif's November 1 appearance on a news podcast on the RNN TV YouTube channel, where he is also listed as the organization's CEO. The discussion centered on Qamar's previous statements about preferring to live in Lahore over Karachi. During that conversation, Hanif leveled allegations of moral impropriety against the actor, referencing the early 2000s. He also made similar claims about actor Natasha Ali and passed derogatory remarks regarding actor Mishi Khan.
Following the podcast, Qamar promptly issued a legal notice to the journalist and posted screenshots of it in a series of Instagram stories, accompanied by a message for her followers.
