AIB issues new statement on their future; Gursimran Khamba won't be involved in comedy group's operations

Comedy collective All India Backchod (AIB) , which has remained stagnant ever since two of its members were named in the #MeToo movement, has issued a fresh statement on Wednesday on their future. Post October, which was also when the #Metoo movement reached its pinnacle in India, two AIB members, Tanmay Bhatt and Gursimran Khambha, were asked to step down from their positions. As a result of Bhat and Khamba’s alleged involvement in separate cases of inaction and sexual misconduct respectively, the group lost most of its projects  and had to put operations on hold, according to the statement released. “Almost all our partners hit freeze on future associations, while others pulled out of active projects effective immediately. All of this hit revenue hard,” reads the statement.

The statement further adds that AIB had to let go of their office space as well as the entire team because they were unable to sustain the costs. “With no incoming revenue and operational costs piling up, we had to make some hard and unfortunately permanent decisions.” After Khamba was accused of sexual harassment in a post shared by an anonymous account on Twitter, AIB set up an External committee comprising a senior partner of a law firm and a diversity consultant. However, due to Khamba’s separation from the collective, the committee was unable to conclude the investigation. Given the circumstances, the statement mentions that Khamba will no longer be involved with the collective’s operations. Rohan Joshi and Ashish Shakya will continue to manage the operations of AIB while pursuing solo careers, the statement added.