Ananya Pandey shuts down reports of her lying about USC admission, says ‘It’s never ok to bully anyone’

Ananya Pandey on Saturday dismissed the accusations that she lied about getting selected in a prestigious US university. The Student of the Year 2 actor had recently said in an interview that she chose not to go to college despite being accepted for a journalism program as she wanted to focus on her acting career.

A woman, who goes by the name of "anieeepeee" on Instagram, then came forward disputing the actor's statement and said she never applied for any foreign university. The woman claimed to be Ananya's schoolmate.

Setting the record straight, the 20-year-old actor posted a photo of her with the university letters on Instagram and revealed that she had successfully applied for a major in Communication at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism but postponed her admission twice as she was shooting for her debut film.

"As I've stated earlier, I was accepted by Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at USC for a major in Communication in the Spring 2018 semester. But since I was shooting for my first film and the release date later got pushed, I had to request for a deferral (which means postponing my admission) twice - first to Fall 2018 and later to Fall 2019, both of which they gracefully agreed to do," Ananya wrote in the caption.

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I didn’t want to do this. I didn’t feel like I needed to explain myself to anyone, but the rumours that I faked my admission at USC have been doing the rounds for a while now. They've been getting out of hand, and it’s even more unfair and sad that my family and friends have to go through this. As I've stated earlier, I was accepted by Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at USC for a major in Communication in the Spring 2018 semester. But since I was shooting for my first film and the release date later got pushed, I had to request for a deferral (which means postponing my admission) twice - first to Fall 2018 and later to Fall 2019, both of which they gracefully agreed to do. In my case, I could only defer my admission two times so I will not be attending university (for now), since I’ve decided to pursue my career in acting. As for the people who have been trying to pull me down with these accusations, I would like to send you all lots of love, peace and positivity. And would also like to say that even though they’re claiming to be my classmates (nameless and faceless) - I'm sure they aren’t because I’ve grown up with the people I went to school with and they would never do something like that. It's never okay to bully anyone - creating fake conversations, stories and screenshots is very dangerous and can seriously damage people’s lives. So please be loving, positive and kind. ❤ (PS - my father’s real name is Suyash and I blurred out my address for security reasons)

A post shared by Ananya 👩🏻‍🎓💫 (@ananyapanday) on Jun 8, 2019 at 2:36am PDT

"In my case, I could only defer my admission two times so I will not be attending university (for now), since I've decided to pursue my career in acting," she added.

The actor also said the rumours that she lied about getting selected in a foreign university were "getting out of hand" and have been "unfair" to her and her family.

"As for the people who have been trying to pull me down with these accusations, I would like to send you all lots of love, peace and positivity. And would also like to say that even though they're claiming to be my classmates (nameless and faceless) - I'm sure they aren't because I've grown up with the people I went to school with and they would never do something like that," Ananya said.

"It's never okay to bully anyone - creating fake conversations, stories and screenshots is very dangerous and can seriously damage people's lives. So please be loving, positive and kind," she added.