Actor Karti has issued an apology after actor-turned-politician Pawan Kalyan slammed him for his reaction on the ongoing Tirupati prasad controversy. For those unversed, at a recent event a couple of days back, Karthi had said that we should not talk about laddoos as it is a 'sensitive' topic.

Karti's reaction came after the host of the event presented a few memes, one of which was about laddoo. On seeing the meme, the actor reportedly said, "Ippudu laddu gurinchi maatladakodadu (we should not talk about laddu now), it's a sensitive topic manakoddadi (we don't want)."

Karthi's comment offended Pawan Kalyan, who asked celebrities to refrain from speaking about the controversy.

"If you want to talk about it, talk respectfully or don’t talk at all. People won’t forgive you if you joke about it or make memes. This is deeply painful for many. You’re joking about laddoo…I saw how it was talked about at a movie event yesterday, how laddoo is a sensitive issue. Don’t you ever dare to say that please. I respect you as actors, but when it comes to Sanatana Dharma, please, you have to think 100 times before you say a word."

Apologising for his comment, Karti took to his official X account on Tuesday (September 24) and wrote, "Dear @PawanKalyan sir, with deep respects to you, I apologize for any unintended misunderstanding caused. As a humble devotee of Lord Venkateswara, I always hold our traditions dear. Best regards."

A few days back, Pawan Kalyan suggested constituting a 'Sanatana Dharma Rakshana Board' at a national level to look into the issues related to temples in the country.

In a long post on X, he had mentioned, "We are all deeply disturbed with the findings of animal fat (fish oil, pork fat and beef fat) mixed in Tirupathi Balaji Prasad. Many questions to be answered by the TTD board constituted by YCP Govt then. Our Govt is committed to take stringent action possible. But, this throws light on many issues surrounding desecration of temples, its land issues and other dharmic practices."

He added, "Many be the time has come to constitute a ‘Sanatana Dharma Rakshana Board’ at a national level to look into all the issues related to temples in entire Bharath. A debate has to happen at a national level by all the policy makers, religious heads, judiciary, citizens, media and all others in their respective domains. I think we all should come together to put an end to desecration of ‘Sanathana Dharma’ in any form."