Diljit Dosanjh snuck in his ‘kirpan' at Met Gala behind Shakira, says Priyanka Chopra looked out for him as he was all alone: ‘They said this is a weapon'

Indian Express

25-06-2025

Diljit Dosanjh, who stole the show at the recently held Met Gala in New York with his Punjabi outfit, shared in a recent interview that when he pictured his outfit for the first time, he had tears in his eyes. Diljit also shared that the organisers at the Met Gala had told him not to carry his 'kirpan' (small blade which is seen as a part of the Sikh uniform) as it constitutes as a weapon, and weapons are not allowed inside the gala but since he went in behind Shakira, whose dress had a lot of metal, his kirpan went in undetected, and no one asked him to get rid of it. He shared that once inside, Priyanka Chopra told him to yell out her name if he needed anything.
Talking about his 'kirpan', in a chat with BBC Asian Network, he recalled that they told him that he can't carry it as it is a weapon but allowed him to take backstage pictures as it was a part of his look. After posing for some pictures, Diljit sat in the car with the 'kirpan' and was told that he must hand it over to someone else before he gets on the red carpet. 'They told me that you hand it over to someone, you can't take it on the red carpet as this is a weapon, so I said okay. Then I got out of the car and thought that I will give it if someone asks for it,' he said and shared that he was feeling bad about it as it was a part of his look. But, since Shakira was ahead of him, and her dress had a lot of metal on it, no one checked on Diljit.
'Shakira was just ahead of me. Her dress had a lot of metal on it and no one wanted to follow Shakira on the red carpet. She is a big star because when a big star walks the red carpet, the ones following them don't get enough attention. I said, it's okay, I will go. She was passing through the metal detector and it started beeping. I had a kirpan in my hand and I snuck in behind her. I had a cape on and the 'kirpan' was inside it. They checked her and didn't check me,' he said.
ALSO READ | Ground Zero: Hatemongering comes so naturally to Bollywood that it can't make an antiwar movie even when it tries; Emraan Hashmi's film is proof
Once inside, Diljit recalled that Priyanka Chopra was there already, and she rushed towards him as he was sitting by himself. 'Priyanka came and told me, 'Diljit, I am sitting right here, if you need anything, just shout my name and I will come to you'. So wherever you have your own people, they support you,' he shared.
Diljit is currently in the midst of a huge controversy as the AICWA and FWICE have called for a ban on him because his upcoming film Sardarji 3 stars Pakistani actor Hania Aamir. Since the Pahalgam attack, Indian cine associations have called for a blanket ban on all Pakistani artistes.