Actor Yasir Hussain has publicly stepped in to support morning-show host Nida Yasir after she issued an on-air apology clarifying her recent comments about food-delivery riders.
Responding to her apology video, the Monkey Business director reshared a clip of Nida on his Instagram story, praising her decades-long command over live television and calling her a “queen of live shows.” He added that anyone who speaks live as much as she does is bound to make mistakes, noting, “Live bolna bachon ka khel nahi hai.”
His message arrived just as Nida’s remarks, made during a casual segment on her morning show, continued to circulate widely.
In that segment, she narrated an incident involving a delivery rider who allegedly did not carry change. While narrating it, she generalised the behaviour as something riders “often” do, adding that she sometimes keeps riders waiting so they “learn” to carry change.
The clip quickly sparked debate, with many viewers arguing that the comment was insensitive to riders who work long, often underpaid shifts and frequently operate under pressure from both customers and platforms.
Even the delivery riders gathered to make a video to roast the 14-year long-standing host of Good Morning Pakistan.
Within hours of the backlash, Nida opened her next episode by addressing the situation directly. She explained that she had no intention of criticising or disrespecting all riders, and that her gripe was with one individual incident that came out sounding broader than intended.
Emphasising that live television leaves no room for retakes, she said that her “choice of words” was poor and apologised to any rider who felt misrepresented or hurt by the segment. She added that she values the service riders provide and often speaks in their support.
It was this apology that prompted Hussain’s defence. In his view, the volume of live hours she has hosted makes occasional misstatements almost inevitable, and he urged audiences to extend the same margin of error to television hosts that they allow in everyday conversation.
