Following heavy criticism for his joke on the badminton player on Twitter, actor Siddharth took to Twitter to apologise to Saina Nehwal. This comes after Saina Nehwal had expressed her concern over the security breach of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his Punjab visit on January 5 in a Twitter post and Siddharth had retweeted a post by Nehwal with a joke that did not land well.

Siddarth, in his letter of apology posted on Twitter, said, "Dear Saina, I want to apologise to you for my rude joke that I wrote as a response to a tweet of yours, a few days ago. I may disagree with you on many things but even my disappointment or anger when I read your tweet, cannot justify my tone and words. I know I have more grace in me than that."

The actor apologised for his joke and explained, "as for the joke...If a joke needs to be explained, then it wasn't a very good joke to begin with. Sorry about a joke that didn't land." Additionally, he also clarified that he had no "malicious" intent and that he is a "feminist ally."

"I, however must insist my word play and humour had none of the malicious intent that so many people from all quarters have attributed to it. I am a staunch feminist ally and I assure you there was no gender implied in my tweet and certainly no intent to attack you as a woman," he added.

The joke that was shared by the actor along with Nehwal's post, said, “subtle cock champion of the world... Thank God we have protectors of India. Folded hands. Shame on you Rihanna."

Full text of Siddharth's apology letter to Saina Nehwal

Dear Saina, I want to apologise to you for my rude joke that I wrote as a response to a tweet of yours, a few days ago. 

I may disagree with you on many things but even my disappointment or anger when I read your tweet, cannot justify my tone and words. I know I have more grace in me than that. As for the joke... 

If a joke needs to be explained, then it wasn't a very good joke to begin with. Sorry about a joke that didn't land. 

I, however must insist my word play and humour had none of the malicious intent that so many people from all quarters have attributed to it. 

I am a staunch feminist ally and I assure you there was no gender implied in my tweet and certainly no intent to attack you as a woman. 

I hope we can put this behind us and that you will accept my letter. 

You will always be my Champion. 

Honestly, 

Siddharth