My intention was not to make it a religious discussion but I wanted to say that imam sahab should have clarified also that it is not a prohibited act either. Maybe he did but not mentioned in your post. So I will assume he did.
Passing comments or opinions by imams or someone who people look up to is a big responsibility.
He indirectly and unknowingly made people doubt the act as being good.
On special occasions, hugging is allowed.** Hugging at some occasion is a sunnah** by the way. May be not two or three times but why even worry?
…
Hugging and kissing, in the way described earlier, on special occasions is acceptable. It is a cultural matter that shari’ah does not object to. It was reported that when Zaid ibn Haritha came back to Madeenah (from a journey), the Messenger of Allah stood up to greet him, he kissed him and embraced him. (Tirmidhi) And when Ja’far ibn Abi Talib the cousin of the Messenger of Allah came back for Abyssinia, after his long absence, the Messenger of Allah embraced him. (Abu Ya’la)…