Yasir Hussain says he never made a crass joke at the 2017 Hum Awards, except he did

Just like us, celebrities make mistakes and that's okay ⁠— as long as those mistakes are accounted for and corrected in the future.

So it's confusing when public figures deny that they made a mistake at all, especially one they previously apologised for.

Yet that's what actor and comedian Yasir Hussain did on Waseem Badami's talk show this weekend.

Waseem Badami questioned Yasir Hussain about an inappropriate joke he had made at the Hum Awards in 2017, where the actor was hosting a segment.

Also read: Yasir Hussain's terrible Hum Awards joke is proof desi comedians need a reality check

Referring to Ahsan Khan, who won an award for Best Actor In A Negative Role for his performance as villain in child sexual abuse drama Udaari, Hussain remarked: "Itna khoobsurat child molester, kaash mein bhi bacha hota" (what a beautiful child molester, if only I was also a child). An Images correspondent present at the event confirmed that this had in fact occurred.

People present at the event who witnessed the comment took to social media to express their concern. Even activist-turned-politician Jibran Nasir weighed in.

After the backlash Yasir Hussain posted an apology to his Instagram account, saying: "The comment that I made was unintentional. I regret saying it."

However, when questioned by Badami, Hussain denied he had ever made this comment, saying: "I never said any said any such thing. No one saw it, no one heard it. Someone happened to write about it, and everybody believed it."

When Badami pushed back Yasir Hussain doubled down on his denial, adding: "I don't even remember what I said. There is no video of it. Which means it never happened. I never said anything like what you're referring to."

It's strange that Hussain should deny a situation that so obviously happened, especially when he previously apologised for it.

Speaking to Images in 2017, he said: "When you improvise, things come out of your mouth that may not be appropriate. What I said, I said in praise of Ahsan Khan, it had nothing to do with child molestation. I certainly didn't mean to encourage child molestation. But if this hurt people, then I have said sorry for it... After this the matter should be finished off, don't you think?"

Whatever Hussain says now, one thing stands: facts are facts. It happened, and denying it won't make it any less real.