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Actor and model Khaqan Shahnawaz issued an apology on Tuesday for making fun of content creator Ali Abdullah over the latter’s speech impediment after he initially criticised Abdullah’s comments on a Ramazan transmission.

The actor said he “didn’t know Ali Abdullah suffered from a speech impediment” and that he has “taken down” his post. He apologised for any offence caused but maintained the content creator’s jokes about someone’s financial position or menstruation were inappropriate for national television.

The comments come after Abdullah appeared on the programme Piyara Ramzan on Express TV on February 25, where he was asked by host Javeria Saud for his commentary on a series of TikTok clips.

One of the clips showed TikTok creator Jawad World parodying a perpetually annoyed diner at sehri, to which Abdullah said, “The paratha he’s eating, that day-old taftan that his mother has warmed with water, it’s helping neither his health, nor his algorithm.”

He added that “Jawad is constantly going to experience special days [a euphemism for periods],” making the host burst into laughter.

Shahnawaz posted a video mocking Abdullah’s accent, saying, “When your own face is like a taftan, it doesn’t suit you to say these things. Do you know you speak like this, you are in no position to make fun of anybody for how they live life [and] how they look.”

The actor said social media is a very dangerous thing and had a tendency to get to one’s head. He said Abdullah makes content too, telling him and the audience, “You know, what you are feeling watching [Jawad’s] videos, I feel when I watch your videos… and somebody feels the same watching my videos.” He advised the content creator to “Be a little humble, so you don’t get mocked.”

The actor was called out for making fun of the way Abdullah spoke, with many pointing out that he had a speech impediment.

Actor Sabeena Farooq said that this was the creator’s specific brand of comedy and that Shahnawaz’s comments were “wrong…on so many levels”.