 "Who is Samay Raina against whom case has been filed with Ranveer Allahbadia?")
Comedian Samay Raina often walks a fine line between humour and controversy.
This time, however, he and his YouTube show, India’s Got Latent, are under scrutiny after a short clip from the show went viral.
The video, featuring YouTuber-podcaster Ranveer Allahbadia making a crass joke on the platform, has received massive backlash from netizens and people from various walks of life.
A complaint has also been registered in Mumbai against the two Youtubers, along with others on the panel of the show over the use of abusive language, according to ANI.
Here’s all we know about the comedian.
Who is Samay Raina?
Samay Raina is an Indian stand-up comedian known for his “dark” comedy style.
Born in Jammu and Kashmir into a Kashmiri Pandit family, he started uploading comedy videos on YouTube at the age of 16.
He enrolled in a print engineering course at PVG’s COET in Maharashtra’s Pune, but he found it unfulfilling and started performing at open mic events.
His first open mic gig came in August 2017, after which he began opening for comedians like Anirban Dasgupta and Abhishek Upmanyu in Pune.
He gained fame when he won the second season of the stand-up contest Comicstaan, along with fellow contestant Aakash Gupta.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Raina began streaming chess on his YouTube channel while collaborating with top players and influencers, like YouTuber Antonio Radic (Agadmator), Indian Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi, chess personalities such as Viswanathan Anand, Anish Giri, Teimour Radjabov, and legends like Magnus Carlsen, Vladimir Kramnik, and Judit Polgar.
The comedian has organised several online chess tournaments, such as the Comedians on Board (COB) series. In 2021, he won the $10,000 Botez Bullet Invitational hosted by Chess.com, according to NDTV.
Raina also co-founded the Chess Super League (CSL) with ChessBase India and Nodwin Gaming. It featured top players from India and other countries and had a winning prize of Rs 40 lakh.
He has 7.4 million subscribers on his YouTube channel and six million followers on Instagram.
Currently, Raina is on his Unfiltered: North America Tour 2025 in Seattle. In the viral image, the comedian is seen standing in deep focus over a chessboard set up atop a backstage equipment case.
What is India’s Got Latent?
In June 2024, Raina launched India’s Got Latent on YouTube, a humorous version of the TV reality show India’s Got Talent.
The contestants in the show showcase their talent and then are grilled by judges on the panel, which includes Raina and the other guests he invites.
Instead of competing with each other, the contestants need to be self-aware to win the contest.
The show, which has a unique scoring system, is somewhat similar to comedian Tony Hinchcliffe’s American comedy podcast, Kill Tony.
Its first episode was streamed about seven months back on YouTube and had gained immense viewership.
According to reports, one of the episodes with the lowest viewership is 20 million, and the highest is 40 million.
Following the show’s success, the comedian also launched an India’s Got Latent app, which offers uncensored content.
What’s the controversy around the show?
According to media reports, during his appearance on India’s Got Latent, Ranveer Allahbadia 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.”
He had also asked about the “size of his penis” and even offered Rs 2 crore if he “sucked his d***.”
The remarks triggered a huge uproar and multiple police complaints are filed against him, host Samay Raina, Ashish Chanchlani, Jaspreet Singh, and Apporva Makhija. They have been accused of promoting obscenity and engaging in sexually explicit and vulgar discussions in the show.
The first one to bring on the case was the Guwahati police after Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma tweeted about it.
Furthermore, Bombay High Court advocates Ashish Ray and Pankaj Mishra also wrote to Mumbai Police Commissioner Vivek Phalsankar and the Maharashtra Women’s Commission, seeking action for the remarks made on the show, which, according to them, amounts to disrespecting women.
Commentator Rahul Easwar filed a complaint seeking an FIR under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Information Technology Act.
BJP functionary Nilotpal Mrinal Pandey has filed a complaint with the Khar police in Mumbai.
Joining the long list of critics was Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.
He said, “I have been informed about this, though I have not watched it yet. I came to know that it was very vulgar and this was wrong. Everyone has freedom of speech but this freedom ends when we encroach upon others’ freedom. Everyone has limits, if anyone crosses them, action will be taken.”
What did the comedian say?
Allahbadia, who has 4.5 million followers on Instagram and 1.05 crore YouTube subscribers, issued an apology following the backlash.
In a video message on X, the 31-year-old 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.”
Addressing the backlash, he continued, “Many of you asked if this is how I wish to use my platform and obviously this is not how I wish to use it. I am not going to give any context, justification or reasoning behind whatever happened. I am just here for an apology."
“I personally had a lapse of judgment, wasn’t cool on my part. The podcast is watched by people of all ages, don’t want to be the kind of person that takes that responsibility lightly and family is the last thing that I would ever disrespect,” he added.
He said, “Need to use this platform better, that’s been my learning from this whole experience. I promise to just get better, have asked the makers of the video to remove the insensitive sections from the video. All I can say in the end is I am Sorry. I hope you forgive me as a human being.”
The makers of the show have since cropped out the controversial parts.
With inputs from agencies
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