Sushant Rajput’s ‘fans’ target comedian Daniel Fernandes for joking about his death, force him to issue apology

Tribune Web Desk
Chandigarh, January 14

Comedian Daniel Fernandes has issued an apology to late actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s fans.

In a video, shared on January 11, the comedian had talked about Sushant’s death, the media furore that followed it, and the treatment of Sushant’s girlfriend, Rhea Chakraborty.

Post this, a section of the public, claiming to be Sushant’s fans, called him out for the video.

Daniel shared a statement on Instagram in which he admitted to making a mistake, but added that he stands by everything else that he said in the bit.

"The worst thing you could do as a stand-up comedian is making jokes on a tragedy. Dislike and mass report this video for making jokes on Sushant Singh Rajput death," one person had written on Twitter.

Here's the full text of Daniel's apology:

"My recent stand-up video appears to have offended a lot of fans of the late Sushant Singh Rajput, many of who have pointed out an apology is in order and I agree!

As a comedian, my only intention is always only to entertain you and make you laugh, but sometimes in that endeavour, it is possible that I might evoke an unfavourable response.

That being said, I would like to address my mistake. Towards the end of this bit, I said that Rhea has been acquitted of her charges. That is factually incorrect. She has been released on bail. For some weird reason, I used the word 'acquitted' by mistake in the Pune show. It is definitely not how I have written or performed it elsewhere. I take that back and apologize to anyone whose feelings may have been hurt.

Also, through an editing oversight, one of my favourite jokes from this set got left out of the final cut. To fix this, I will upload a new version of this video with that joke next week.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Daniel Fernandes (@absolutelydanny)

I stand by everything else I said."

Daniel followed it up with a post that carried the definition of the word 'satire'.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Daniel Fernandes (@absolutelydanny)

Sushant died by suicide on June 14.

Three central agencies—the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Narcotics Control Bureau, and the Enforcement Directorate—are investigating the circumstances surrounding his death.

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