Influencer Ranveer Allahbadia's distasteful comment on parents and sex led to massive outrage across the spectrum on Monday, prompting the YouTuber with almost 16 million followers on social media platforms to apologise and say comedy is not his forte.
The flip remark intended for quick laughs raised hackles instead with politicians, including Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, activists, social media users and others calling for a ban and slamming him for being crass, vulgar and offensive.
The comment was made on the YouTube reality show "India's Got Latent" hosted by comedian Samay Raina, popular amongst some sections for its often offensive content.
Allahbadia, who has over 600,000 followers on X, 4.5 million on Instagram and 10.5 million subscribers on his YouTube channel, said the comment, which cannot be reproduced here, was a "lapse in judgement". The 31-year-old, popularly known as Beer Biceps, also said he has asked the show creators to remove the controversial segment.
"Comedy is not my forte. Just here to say sorry... Many of you asked if this is how I wish to use my platform.... 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... I hope you can forgive me as a human being," he said in a video statement on X.
As the clip of his comment and the loud laughs gained traction, Allahbadia and Raina's show quickly became a trending topic and the subject of furious debate over what constitutes decency and what is comedy.
In Mumbai, a Bharatiya Janata Party functionary lodged a police complaint against Allahbadia, Raina and participants of the show.
In mounting trouble for him, National Human Rights Commission member Priyank Kanoongo wrote to YouTube's head of public policy in India and asked for "urgent action".
"The complaint highlights concerns regarding the show's propagation of negativity, discriminatory perspectives, religious and cultural intolerance, and disrespectful and obscene ideologies, particularly towards women and children.
"It is further alleged that, under the guise of freedom of speech, the show disseminates obscene and vulgar content along with misleading messages, thereby fostering a corrupt mindset in society," he wrote.
The content in question "prima face appears to be in violation" of various legal provisions under the Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS), the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, the Information Technology Act and other applicable laws, the letter reads.
An official from National Commission for Women said they were looking into the matter.
The Maharashtra chief minister said he hasn't seen the clip in question but cautioned people about the limits of freedom of speech.
"Everyone has the freedom of speech but our freedom ends when we encroach upon the freedom of others... In our society, we have made some rules, it is absolutely wrong if someone violates them. Action should be taken against them," Fadnavis told reporters.
Allahbadia, whose podcasts feature the rich and the famous, including top Bollywood stars, was one of the online content creators who received a National Creators Award from Prime Minister Narendra Modi at an event in New Delhi last year. He had earlier partnered with the Digital India Corporation to interview a series of cabinet ministers, including S Jaishankar and Piyush Goyal.
Writer-storyteller Neelesh Misra shared the controversial clip on his X page and said, "Meet the perverted creators who are shaping our country's creative economy."
"... Banal, crass, insensitive are words only for boring uncool people. These creators can say anything in the name of freedom of speech and get away with it," he added.
Sharing Misra's post, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said on X, "This isn't creative. It's pervert. And we can't normalise perverse behaviour as cool. The fact that this sick comment met loud applause must worry us all."
Ashutosh J Dubey, head of the BJP Maharashtra social media legal and advisory department, added on X that he has written to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting requesting "an investigation into inappropriate content" by Allahbadia, Raina and his team.
Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray Rajya Sabha member Priyanka Chaturvedi said abusive language in the name of comedy content cannot be tolerated.
"What level have we fallen to? You have a platform but that does not mean you can say anything. He is someone with millions of subscribers and every minister has been a guest on his podcast. PM has given him an award. You have to understand your responsibility. So I am going to raise this issue as a member of standing committee of the ministry of information and broadcasting," Chaturvedi said.
Allahbadia also faced criticism from his own community with many like Dhruv Rathee, also a popular content creator, saying shows like "India's Got Latent" have the same impact on "moral decay of society as films like 'Animal' and they need to be called out".
"The only purpose is to shock and disgust audiences for views, which is having a disastrous impact on the moral development of our youth. However, calling for any govt bans for this is not the solution as it may usher in a harsh censorship regime. Instead, we need to pressurize content creators to make better content," Rathee wrote on X.
A user on X said Allahbadia doesn't deserve to be "respected and followed".
"So unfollowing will be a msg to him. Pls take a social act against the bad social star. Spread it. #Beerbiceps."
Another said she has unsubscribed both Allahbadia and Raina.
Many on social media also shared a clip from a British comedy show "OG Truth or Drink" to claim that Allahbadia had copied his controversial lines from the woman anchor on it.
© 2025