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Journalist Naeem Hanif has publicly apologised to actor Saba Qamar, after the Pamaal star issued a legal notice to him for making “defamatory” comments about her during his podcast on November 1.

On Tuesday, Hanif appeared on a podcast hosted by Bushran Khan on RNN Network’s YouTube channel, where Khan gave Hanif the platform to say something about Qamar.

Hanif admitted a video was uploaded on November 3 on their channel regarding Qamar in which he falsely claimed that 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. 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 it to her Instagram story, with the caption “Speechless”.

On Nov 1, Hanif, who is also listed as the CEO of RNN TV on its website, appeared on a news podcast on the RNN TV YouTube channel and discussed the controversy surrounding Qamar’s statements about preferring to live in Lahore over Karachi. During the discussion he made allegations of moral ineptitude against the actor dating back to the early 2000s. He also made similar claims about actor Natasha Ali and passed derogatory remarks against actor Mishi Khan.

Soon after, Qamar issued a legal notice to the journalist and posted screenshots of the notice in a series of Instagram stories alongside a message for her followers.

She said she had “taken legal action against a journalist who spread false and baseless claims about me”. Telling fans and industry fellows to be strong and stand up to defamation and disrespect, she asked them to call such people out and hold them accountable. “No one,” the star said, “has the right to make false accusations just for attention.”

The notice claimed the journalist 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”, accusing Hanif of causing severe mental agony and loss of reputation.

It demanded the journalist take the sexist and defamatory content down within seven days, to 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 taken down from the channel.