British-American broadcaster Mehdi Hasan could not stop his laughter when PML-N leader Hina Parvez Butt claimed that former prime minister Imran Khan paid for an interview with Hasan for his media company ‘Zeteo’.

“‘Paid’ on the post below means it’s a post only for paid subscribers to Zeteo,” he said while reacting to the Butt’s social media post on X on Wednesday.

The PML-N leader shared a screenshot of the wesbite link with the caption: Take the money and give (paisay lo interview do).

Hasan replied that Butt, who belongs to the ruling party, was pushing a conspiracy theory that he was “paid” to do my interview with Khan.

“Imagine being this ignorant & conspiratorial… & elected! Lol,” Hasan said.

“Pretty sure that if there was a big conspiracy involving Imran Khan paying Zeteo (!) to do an interview with him, we wouldn’t stick… ‘PAID’ at the top in plain sight to give it all away,” he added.

Earlier this year, Hasan launched a new publication called Zeteo, containing video, podcasts and text journalism, more than a month after he quit the US news channel MSNBC on the live show.

In an interview with Hasan, Khan claimed that the incumbent government lacked legitimacy. “He also has some, ahem, choice words for former chief of army staff general Qamar Javed Bajwa.”

It was written in the text story that Hasan could only send a list of written questions for him to answer and he was unable to ask any follow-up questions.

When asked about life behind bars, Khan said that he found himself confined in what is referred to as a “death cell”.

He alleged that the authorities were determined to cast him in such a light. “In solitary confinement, I am denied even the basic rights of a prisoner,” the former prime minister said and claimed that psychological tactics were being employed to break him spirit.