In 2025, comedian Samay Raina was on cloud 9. His show, India’s Got Latent, was the talk of the town. It dominated social media conversations and catapulted the stand-up comic to national relevance. All seemed to be going swimmingly until a stray remark from guest Ranveer Allahbadia not only invited furore and FIRs but also got the show shut. Now, a year after the entire controversy, Samay addressed the time in his new special video, revealing how everything went down.
Samay Raina on India's Got Latent
In his new video, the comedian recalls how the controversy erupted over a line from Ranveer asking if they would watch their parents have sex. This led to many FIRs against the show’s organisers, including Samay himself, after which he deleted all the show's episodes from YouTube.
“Raaton raat pura show hatana pada. Maine bahut mann se banaya tha woh show. Sab dekhte the pata hai. Humne YouTube se stat nikala tha, monthly 4 crore unique devices pe log mera show dekhte the. 100 mein se 4 log humara show dekhke hass rahe the (I had to remove the whole show overnight. I built it with a lot of hard work, and everyone watched it. We dug out stats from YouTube, and it had 4 crore unique monthly visitors. 4 out of 100 people laughed at my show). It broke me like anything, man.”
The comedian said he did not want to delete the show but was forced to after the police arrested his video editor. “I never wanted to remove it. Main US mein tha aur mujhe Mumbai Police ka call aaya ki aapko saare episodes abhi hatane padenge. Maine kaha mai nahi hata raha hoon sir, I live in a democracy, we have freedom of speech. Toh mera editor arrest kar liya unhone. (I was in the US, and Mumbai Police called me to tell me to delete the episodes. I refused, saying I live in a democracy and have freedom of speech. So they arrested my editor).”
The India’s Got Latent row
{{/usCountry}}The comedian said he did not want to delete the show but was forced to after the police arrested his video editor. “I never wanted to remove it. Main US mein tha aur mujhe Mumbai Police ka call aaya ki aapko saare episodes abhi hatane padenge. Maine kaha mai nahi hata raha hoon sir, I live in a democracy, we have freedom of speech. Toh mera editor arrest kar liya unhone. (I was in the US, and Mumbai Police called me to tell me to delete the episodes. I refused, saying I live in a democracy and have freedom of speech. So they arrested my editor).”
The India’s Got Latent row
{{/usCountry}}The backlash to Ranveer Allahbadia’s statement on the show was swift, with multiple FIRs filed across different states, calls for cancellations, and condemnations from public figures and organisations. Both Samay and Ranveer later issued public apologies, with Samay submitting an affidavit to the Supreme Court expressing remorse and a commitment to more responsible content.
In a sworn affidavit, Samay stated that he had no intention of belittling anyone and was committed to creating content that is “inclusive and sensitive.” He pledged to uphold “better conduct, content sensitivity, and legal compliance” moving forward.
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