Diljit Dosanjh has been enjoying a lot of fame because of the massive milestones he’s achieved in his career. He’s the first Indian singer to have ever performed at Coachella and featured on Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Currently basking in the blockbuster success of Jatt & Juliet 3, the Punjabi artist has fallen into the lap of controversy over non-payment of dues to his dancers. Scroll below for all the details!
Apart from entertaining fans with his recent release, Jatt & Juliet 3, Diljit has been performing across India, Europe, the US, and Canada as a part of his Dil-Luminati tour. LA-based choreographer Rajat Batta has shared a detailed note on Instagram and accused the singer of not paying his background dancers.
Rajat Batta wrote, “All of the Desi Dancers in Diljit’s Dil-Luminati Tour were not paid, and just expected to perform for free…Desi Dance as an industry has become a lifeblood for artists and do a significant part in the entire ecosystem of the industry… while its choreography, stage performances, music videos, reels, to even promoting songs… It’s an essential part of production and it’s really disappointing to see an artist of this caliber cut corners by stepping on throats of Desi Dancer industry and continue to attribute to that culture. Diljit, we are very happy for your success, but your dancers should have been paid and been a part of the production budget.”
Diljit Dosanjh’s manager, Sonali, has now rubbished the allegations made by the LA-based choreographer. In fact, she claims Rajat Batta was never a part of the Dil-Luminati Tour.
View this post on Instagram
The statement given to News18 read, “Our official team never contacted Rajat Batta or Manpreet Toor who are presenting false narratives on social media. Rajat and Manpreet were not part of the Dil-Luminati Tour in any way.”
Rajat Batta has responded to the statement in another Instagram post. He mentioned that he never claimed to be a part of the Dil-Luminati tour but attempted to raise awareness about dancers who were not paid for performing.
He clarified, “The goal or intention wasn’t to spread hate, attack or put anyone down, especially not Diljit, the management team, nor the dances who accepted the conditions to work. It’s disheartening to see that a tour at this caliber, with massive productions, sold out stadiums… still does not have a budget to pay dancers.”
View this post on Instagram
Diljit Dosanjh is yet to react to the allegations.