“I had already said that it was a joke,” he told Aaj News via telephone conversation after his statement drew flak from several women.

Recently, the Namesake actor appeared on Nida Yasir’s show. A clip from the show went viral on social media where he was seen speaking about women and flies.

In response to the host’s statement that the fly might have been attracted to Siddiqui’s sweetness, he warned that women should not mind what he was about to say. “Women and flies are kind of the same examples,” he said, to an audible gasp from Yasir.

Many users slammed the actor for drawing a bizarre analogy between women and flies and former prime minister Imran Khan’s ex-wife Reham Khan described it as a matter of “deep-rooted misogyny.”

Siddiqui said: “If people misunderstood it so be it. It was a statement said as a joke that is going viral.” He went on to add that he had also given a disclaimer before giving the reply.

The Meray Paas Tum Ho regretted his unintentional statement.