Indian podcaster Ranveer Allahbadia, known online as BeerBiceps, was pulled up by the Supreme Court on Tuesday over comments he made on a YouTube comedy show that sparked a severe backlash.
Allahbadia appeared on an episode of YouTube comedy show India's Got Latent, helmed by comedian Samay Raina, where he asked a contestant: “Would you rather watch your parents have sex for the rest of your life or join in once to make it stop?”
The fallout was swift, beginning with reactions on social media calling the comments coarse and offensive. However, formal complaints to the police were made in the western and northeastern states of Maharashtra and Assam against Allahbadia, Raina, an influencer named Apoorva Mukhija who was part of the panel, and India’s Got Latent for allegedly promoting obscenity.
On Tuesday, a panel of Supreme Court judges Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh gave Allahbadia protection from arrest, and instructed the YouTuber and his associates to refrain from participating or airing any show until further orders.
Allahbadia was also told that no further First Information Reports, the first step in any police procedure on the commission of a cognisable offence, could be filed against him.
He was instructed to leave his passport with the police and cooperate with them on the investigation.
The judges were hearing a writ petition by Allahbadia, 31, seeking protection and asking for the different complaints against him to be clubbed together.
However, Justice Kant rebuked Allahbadia for what he said in the show, describing it as “dirty,” according to a report by Live Law.
“Are you defending the kind of language?” the judge asked Abhinav Chandrachud, Allahbadia’s lawyer.
Chandrachud responded saying he was “personally disgusted” by what Allahbadia said and was unable to defend it on “moral grounds”, but whether it “to the level of criminal offense is another question”.
Unconvinced, the judge continued his chastisement of Allahbadia.
“If this is not obscenity, then what is obscenity?...There is something very dirty in his mind, which has been vomited by him in the programme ... He is insulting parents also. Why should the courts favour him?” he asked.
“The words which you have used, parents will feel shamed. Sisters and daughters will feel ashamed. Entire society will feel shamed. It shows a perverted mind.”
The Independent has reached out to Allahbadia for a comment.
After Chandrachud informed the court that Allahbadia and his family were receiving death threats, the judges said the YouTuber could approach the police for protection.
India’s Got Latent is a play on the popular reality TV series India’s Got Talent, and features a different set of celebrity judges on every episode with Raina remaining the sole constant. The show primarily focuses on humour that is often called out on social media for being “crass”, and uses abusive language.
In the wake of the backlash, Allahbadia posted an apology last week, saying in a video: “My comment wasn't just inappropriate, it wasn’t even funny. Comedy is not my forte, I am just here to say sorry. Many of you have asked if this is how I want to use my platform. Obviously this is not how I wish to use it. I’m not going to give any context or justification or reasoning behind whatever happened. I am just here for an apology. I personally had a lapse in judgement. It wasn't cool on my part.”
Last week, Raina deleted all the videos of the show from his YouTube channel, and released a statement on social media saying the ongoing issues were “too much for me to handle”.
“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,” he wrote on Instagram.
Allahbadia, who was awarded the 'Disruptor of the Year’ prize at the first edition of the National Creators Award last year by Indian prime minister Narendra Modi, wrote on his social media on Saturday that he, as well as his family, had been receiving death threats and he was “feeling scared”.
