Amid row over Ranveer Allahbadia's remark, YouTube blocks controversial episode

An episode of 'India Got Latent' on YouTube, featuring obscene and vulgar comments by Ranveer Allahbadia, has been blocked following orders from the government, officials said on Tuesday.

“The 'India Has Latent' episode on @YouTube with obscene and perverse comments by Ranveer Allahbadia has been blocked following Government of India orders,” Kanchan Gupta, Senior Adviser, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, said in a post on X.

Allahbadia — who has over 600,000 followers on X, 4.5 million on Instagram and 10.5 million subscribers on his YouTube channel — faced backlash from all quarters after his distasteful comment on parents and sex on comedian Samay Raina's YouTube reality show 'India's Got Latent' went viral on social media on Monday.

The youtuber, popularly known as BeerBiceps, later apologised for his “lapse in judgement” and also said he had asked the show creators to remove the controversial segment.

On the comedy reality series, popular among today's youth for its edgy bordering on offensive content, Allahbadia asked a question to a contestant on parents and sex, which has been panned by many.

On Monday, the Guwahati Police registered a case against him and four others. A complaint was registered against them by a resident of the city for allegedly promoting obscenity in a publicly accessible online show.

Besides Allahbadia, the case was also filed against stand-up comedian Samay Raina, Ashish Chanchlani, Jaspreet Singh and Apoorva Makhija.

In an apology video on X on Monday, Allahbadia admitted that his comment was not only inappropriate, but also not funny.

“Comedy is not my forte. Just here to say sorry,” the YouTuber, popularly known as BeerBiceps, said in the video.

“Many of you asked if this is how I wish to use my platform. Obviously, this is not how I wish to use my platform. 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 in judgement. It wasn't cool on my part.”

Allahbadia, who has been criticised for setting a bad example for the youth who are his primary audience, said he doesn't want to be the kind of person who takes responsibility lightly.

“Family is the last thing that I would ever disrespect. Need to use this platform better and 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 and all I can say in the end is sorry. I hope you can forgive me as a human being," he said.

Meanwhile, the All Indian Cine Workers Association (AICWA) “vehemently condemned the reprehensible and offensive remarks” made by Allahbadia.

“In a recent episode, Ranveer Allahbadia, who participated in the YouTube show 'India's Got Latent', unleashed abhorrent and vile statements that are deeply disrespectful to our societal and family values,” the AICWA said.

“Such disgraceful content is utterly unacceptable and poses a significant threat to the moral fabric of our society,” it added.

Allahbadia was one of the online content creators who last year received a National Creators Award from Prime Minister Narendra Modi at an event in New Delhi. In the past, the podcaster partnered with the Digital India Corporation to interview a series of Cabinet Ministers. — with PTI