Highlights:
- The show has delivered memorable celebrity moments
- Several episodes sparked major public reactions
- Celebrities faced backlash over controversial comments
- Old clips continue to resurface online
- Season 9 marks the show's final chapter
Bollywood director and producer Karan Johar has confirmed that Koffee With Karan will come to an end with its upcoming ninth season, closing the chapter on one of Indian television’s most recognizable celebrity chat shows after more than two decades.
Over more than two decades, Koffee With Karan has become much more than a celebrity chat show. The couch has seen Bollywood stars talk about relationships, friendships, rivalries and personal lives, but some conversations have continued long after the episodes ended.
As Karan Johar prepares to bring the show to an end with Season 9, several of its most talked-about moments are worth revisiting.
1. When the show affected cricketers' careers
One of the biggest controversies came in January 2019, when cricketers Hardik Pandya and KL Rahul appeared together on the show.
Pandya's comments about his dating life and women he had met at clubs drew widespread criticism for being misogynistic. The backlash quickly moved beyond television and into cricket.
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The Committee of Administrators suspended both players from all BCCI activity, forcing them to leave India's Australia tour midway. The suspensions were lifted around two weeks later. In April 2019, the BCCI ombudsman fined both players Rs 20 lakh, with the money partly directed toward the widows of paramilitary personnel and a cricket fund for the blind.
The episode also changed Johar's approach to casting. He later told tennis star Sania Mirza, "I'm not asking any cricketers after what happened with Hardik and Rahul."
2. Kangana Ranaut's nepotism remark
Few moments from the show became as closely associated with Bollywood's nepotism debate as Kangana Ranaut's appearance in 2017.
Sitting alongside Saif Ali Khan, Ranaut called Johar the "flag bearer of nepotism." What began as a comment on a talk show quickly became part of a much larger conversation about insiders, outsiders and opportunities in the Hindi film industry.
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Months later, Johar, Saif and Varun Dhawan joked about "nepotism rocks" at the IIFA Awards. The reaction was immediate, with Dhawan apologizing and Johar later saying the joke had been his idea and that he regretted it.
The debate returned to the spotlight after Sushant Singh Rajput's death in 2020, when Johar faced renewed criticism over nepotism.
3. The rapid-fire round creates trouble
The show's rapid-fire round has produced plenty of memorable answers, but some have also created controversies of their own.
Around 2010, Deepika Padukone, following her breakup with Ranbir Kapoor, jokingly suggested that he should endorse a condom brand. His father, Rishi Kapoor, later criticized the comment.
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Emraan Hashmi also found himself in the middle of controversy after naming Aishwarya Rai when asked who he considered "plastic." He later apologized and described the answer as distasteful.
Another exchange involving Anil Kapoor and Abhay Deol also spilled outside the show, with Deol publicly responding to comments connected to their film Aisha.
4. When old clips resurfaced
Some Koffee With Karan moments became controversies years after they originally aired.
Alia Bhatt's 2013 appearance became a long-running internet joke after she incorrectly named Prithviraj Chauhan as the President of India during the Koffee Quiz.
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Another moment from the same episode took on a different meaning after Sushant Singh Rajput's death in 2020. A clip from a kill-marry-hook-up game, in which Bhatt chose Rajput as the person she would "kill," resurfaced online. The backlash was intense enough that both Bhatt and Johar disabled comments on their social media accounts.
A Season 3 exchange involving Ranveer Singh and Anushka Sharma has also faced renewed criticism, with viewers revisiting the way women were sometimes discussed on the show.
5. One final cup
Koffee With Karan has spent 22 years turning celebrity conversations into entertainment, headlines and, at times, controversy. Now Johar is preparing to close that chapter.
Season 9 will be the show's final season, with its premiere scheduled exclusively on JioHotstar on October 14, 2026.
After two decades of unexpected revelations and viral moments, the final season will give viewers one last chance to see what happens on Bollywood's most famous couch.
