YouTuber-podcaster Ranveer Allahbadia repeatedly apologised to 'India's Got Latent' contestant after asking him a vulgar question, which led to nationwide outrage, an audience member has revealed.
Mumbai-based Mohit Khubani attended the Samay Raina-hosted show, and he said Mr Allahbadia was proactive in checking the contestant's comfort level, saying, "Sorry aapko bura toh nahi laga?" (Sorry, did it hurt you?) multiple times.
He said the man later won the show and Mr Allahbadia even hugged him on stage. Mr Khubani, defending the panellists, said, "I know this is not my regular content, but I wanted people to know what exactly happened in that episode. I don't want my favourite creators getting hate for no reason because half of the people don't even know what happened in that episode."
He said the comedians and panellists "made sure the kid was comfortable while they made jokes."
He revealed that Ranveer Allahbadia and Samay Raina asked the contestant if they were okay with the question, repeatedly checking if the remark had caused any discomfort. "Samay Raina also asked him if he was okay with it, saying 'Are you okay?'" Mr Khubani recalled. "He said 'you did good', and again apologised if the joke upset him."
He said, "Comedy is a switch-off from life. People watch comedy to feel happy and laugh. If you put offensiveness in comedy, there's no point in comedy at all."
"Watch your parents have sex every day for the rest of your life. Or would you join in once and stop it forever?" Mr Allahbadia had asked the contestant. Once a short clip from the episode went viral, there was outrage on social media, with people and politicians criticising the podcaster and other panellists for using vulgar language.
The inappropriate nature of the comments led to demands for the show's ban in India. The backlash quickly escalated, leading to FIRs filed against the show's creators and guest panellists, including Samay Raina, Ashish Chanchlani, Jaspreet Singh, Ranveer Allahbadia, and Apoorva Mukhija.
In response, Mr Allahbadia issued a public apology, acknowledging his "lapse in judgment" and apologising for his actions. Following the uproar, Samay Raina deleted all episodes of the show from his YouTube channel.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday, started hearing Mr Allahbadia's petition seeking the clubbing of multiple FIRs he was named in.
The top court criticised Mr Allahbadia's remarks on the show, describing them as "vulgar" and saying he should feel "ashamed" of his actions. He was later granted interim protection from arrest, with no further cases permitted to be filed against him.
