Film critic defends his blind items about Sushant Singh Rajput, says they were not 'damaging or hurtful'

Sushant Singh Rajput's untimely death by suicide on June 14, 2020, sent shockwaves throughout the county and sparked widespread media scrutiny. In the aftermath of the actor's death and the massive investigations that followed, many industry insiders were brought in for questioning to find out the cause of his sudden demise. One of them happened to be film critic and former journalist Rajeev Masand, who was accused of penning several blind items that allegedly caused the star to take offence.
In a recent interview, Masand addressed the uproar over blind items that previously sparked a lot of chatter in B-town. In a discussion on the Shaardulogy podcast, Masand reflected on the controversy and the accusations directed at him, emphasizing that the stories he shared were 'not harmful' but rather 'common knowledge' among industry insiders.

Talking to the portal, he said, "We live in times when people who don’t know you and don’t know your work are judging you. Do they matter?"

While admitting that at first, "it irritates you," he went on to say, "I actually can’t change your mind, so it doesn’t affect me."

Masand elaborated on the nature of blind items, which are often written in entertainment columns and said that it is merely a tool to intrigue the audience rather than to harm individuals. He stated, "I used to write a column which had multiple items, and one was a blind item. But were they damaging? Were they hurtful to people? I don’t think so."
He further explained, "The idea was that it was supposed to be a puzzle that people were supposed to solve. In fact, it was information that everybody in the industry already knew. It was misrepresented, but what is not in your control, what can you do?"