The conversation around the controversy over YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia's remark refuses to die. After Imtiaz Ali, Manoj Bajpayee and other stars, AR Rahman joined the bandwagon and reacted to the buzz in an indirect yet meaningful way.
AR Rahman and Vicky Kaushal were present at the music launch of the period drama Chhaava on Wednesday in Mumbai. Vicky asked the composer-singer playfully to use three emojis to describe his music.
AR Rahman made the gesture of mouth closed. He quipped, "This past week we have all seen what all happens when mouth opens." The short and loaded remark made the audience hooting. Vicky Kaushal also burst into laughter.
Ranveer Allahbadia was caught in the eye of the storm when he made a remark about parents and sex on comedian Samay Raina's show India's Got Latent. He had asked a contestant, "Would you rather watch your parents have sex every day for the rest of your life or join in once and stop it forever."
The comment sparked a huge backlash over social media and initiated conversation about the idea of obscenity in comedy. Politicians across party lines had also jumped into the controversy demanding action against the star podcaster.
Ranveer Allahbadia and others, including comedian Samay Raina and the producers of the stand-up comedy show India's Got Latent, have been summoned - on February 17 - by the National Commission for Women over derogatory comments.
Assam police filed a case against the 31-year-old podcaster along with Ashish Chanchlani, Jaspreet Singh, Apoorva Makhija and Samay Raina.
Following the backlash, Allahbadia, who boasts of a huge social media followers, issued an apology.
In a video message on X, formerly Twitter, he said, "I shouldn't have said what I said on India's Got Latent. I'm sorry... My comment wasn't just inappropriate, it was not even funny. Comedy is not my forte, I am just here to say sorry."
On Wednesday, Samay Raina reacted for the first time on the controversy and said he had deleted all India's Got Latent videos from his YouTube channel.
"Everything that is happening has been too much for me to handle. I have removed all India's 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," Mr Raina posted on X.
