
Stand-up comedian Samay Raina opened up about the controversy around his show, India’s Got Latent, once again. In his latest stand-up special, Samay Raina- Still Alive, he confessed that the controversial episode, starring Ranveer Allahbadia, aka BeerBiceps, originally featured way more vulgar content than the one which hit headlines.
Raina said that although he had removed all of them, it was the one question related to parents which was dubbed obscene by a section of people. Raina added that, particularly, Allahabadia had asked the same objectionable question eight times in the episode.
Answering why he didn't edit out Allahbadia's controversial question from the show, Raina said, “Main tumhe maa ki kasam sach batata hoon. Uss episode main BeerBiceps ne voh sawal 8 baar poocha tha. Aur iske alawa bhi kayi ant shant sawal (rubbish) pooche the usne. Toh ab jab maine edit dekha na, maine kaha, ‘Yeh toh bohot gandi baatein kari hain isne.'” ("I swear on my mother, I’m telling you the truth. In that episode, BeerBiceps asked that question eight times. And apart from that, he asked a lot of random, nonsensical questions. So when I saw the edit, I thought, ‘He’s said some really inappropriate things'.")
Raina added that he decided to retain the question only in one segment, which backfired. “‘Chalo ek rakh deta hoon, baaki sab hata deta hoon.’Toh mere POV se maine toh 99 per cent kitaanu (germs) maar diye the na yaar," he said in a humorous style.
Several clips from the show have now gone viral on social media.
In the episode, Raina also talked about the aftermath of the controversy. Revealing how it impacted him, he shared that he felt guilty about it once his peers started receiving death threats and even legal notices. He added that his parents were worried about him, particularly his mother's reaction.
He recalled Apoorva Makhija, aka Rebel Kid, receiving rape threats. He also mentioned that some people attacked the Habitat studio. Raina said that even Allahbadia's mother was approached by people at her clinic.
Raina said, "I saw one video that Balraj's wife sent me, and that broke me completely. That was the final nail in the coffin." The clip showed comedian Balraj's parents, who are in their 70s, pleading publicly after the backlash against their son.
The Latent controversy erupted over Allahbadia asking a "would you rather" question. He asked a contestant, “Would you rather watch your parents have sex every day for the rest of your life or join in once to make it stop forever?”
Soon after the episode went live, Allahbadia faced strong backlash online. Many also slammed Raina, Rebel Kid and Ashish Chanchlani.
Multiple FIRs were filed against all of them, calling for cancellations. Later, both Raina and Allahabadia issued public apologies.
Raina also submitted an affidavit to the Supreme Court.