Telugu producer Sreenivasa Kumar, also known as SKN, has addressed the controversy surrounding his recent remarks at the Return of the Dragon pre-release event. On Tuesday, he took to X to clarify his stance after his statement sparked debate online.

“To clarify, I have introduced eight talented individuals to the industry so far. I introduced Telugu actresses like Reshma and Anandi (Ee Rojullo), Manasa (Romance), Priyanka Jawalkar (Taxiwaala), Vaishnavi (Baby), Haarika (new untitled film with Santosh Sobhan), Aishwarya (new film), and Kushitha (3 Roses sequel). I am set to introduce 25 more talented Telugu girls across 4-5 different crafts in cinema through my upcoming films. Eighty per cent of the films I backed featured Telugu actresses, unlike any other producer. I took it upon myself as a mission to encourage Telugu talent. Please take my statement as fun banter only; don’t make it a controversy. Don’t spread misinformation,” SKN said in a video.

At the event, while welcoming actor Kayadu Lohar, SKN had stated, “Welcome to Telugu. We encourage non-Telugu-speaking heroines rather than Telugu-speaking heroines.” He further added, “I learnt what happens if we encourage Telugu-speaking girls as heroines.”

The producer’s comment quickly raised eyebrows with many netizens believing that he was taking a dig at actor Vaishnavi Chaitanya, whom he introduced in Baby.