Samay Raina responds to India's Got Latent controversy after legal row; internet asks ‘where's the apology’

Comedian Samay Raina breaks silence on India's Got Latent controversy, which began after Ranveer Allahbadia made a crass joke on his show.

Amid the controversy and legal issues surrounding his show India’s Got Latent, comedian Samay Raina finally broke silence on the matter. He posted a statement on X (formerly Twitter) addressing the issues that cropped up after Ranveer Allahbadia made a crass joke on his show. (Also Read: Akansha Ranjan Kapoor reacts to Ranveer Allahbadia, Samay Raina's legal issues in India's Got Latent row)

Samay Raina, a standup comedian, and YouTuber, has come under scrutiny after the Mumbai police contacted him and podcaster Ranveer Allahbadia on Tuesday for an inquiry regarding the latter’s controversial question on India’s Got Latent, (Instagram/Samay Raina)

Samay Raina’s statement

Samay wrote in his statement that recent events have been ‘too much’ to handle for him. He wrote, “Everything that is happening has been too much for me to handle. I have removed all Indias Got Latent videos from my channel. My only objective was to make people laugh and have a good time. I will fully cooperate with all agencies to ensure their inquiries are concluded fairly. Thank you. (folded hands emoji).”

This comes after Balraj Singh Ghai, who often judges India's Got Latent and produces the show, shared pictures of himself, Samay, and others from their team on Instagram. Samay was in Seattle, US for a stand-up show. The pictures showed him hanging out with his friends, playing chess with Balraj, performing at his show and get a big applause from the audience.

Internet reacts

But the internet was not having it because one person commented under his post, “Make people laugh by this kind of content? Insane.. mumma papa hasse yeh content dekh ke?? (Parents should laugh at this?)” Another wrote, “Isme bhi kch fishy hi lag rha hai mujhe toh. (Why does this sound fishy)” One person pointed out, “You are yet to apologise. So long post but you didn't use the word "sorry" "regret" etc.” Another wrote, “Where’s the apology?”

One fan commented, “Hoping things get resolved asap.” Another supportive message read, “Stay strong, spreading joy matters. Hoping for a fair resolution.”

What happened

On India’s Got Latent, Ranveer made a ‘joke’ that did not go down well with viewers. A formal complaint was filed with the Mumbai Commissioner and the Maharashtra Women's Commission against Ranveer, Samay, Apoorva Mukhija and the show's organisers. The complaint is against abusive language being used and obscene remarks made on women for popularity and financial benefit.

Ranveer later apologized for his "inappropriate" remarks that were made in an "insensitive" manner during the YouTube episode of the show. He issued an apology in a video that he shared on his X account hours after facing backlash, saying that "comedy is not his forte" and that "it wasn't cool."