Singer Mika said that Samay Raina’s India’s Got Latent only became controversial when someone as mainstream as YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia appeared on it. He had been comfortably catering to his cult fan-base for months before a section of the public became outraged by comments made by Ranveer on the show. Subsequently, Samay was forced to take down every episode of the series, which had accumulated hundreds of millions of views over the months. A police investigation was launched into the controversy, and multiple individuals involved with the show were questioned by the police, while cases were registered against them.
In an unreleased episode of the show, Ranveer Allahbadia, better known as BeerBiceps on social media, had made a comment that was perceived as inappropriate by a section of the public that was unfamiliar with the show’s risque nature. Speaking about it in an appearance on Shubhankar Mishra’s podcast, Mika said that that neither Ranveer nor Samay should’ve suffered the way they did. The YouTuber recently made a return to public life after getting clearance from the Supreme Court to continue his show; he claimed that his life had been threatened during the controversy.
Mika said, “Controversies only happen to popular people. Nobody cares about nobodies. Let me give you an example. Recently, poor Samay Raina and Ranveer were involved in a controversy. Samay had been doing the same explicit material for months, but nobody cared. He was happy catering to his massive audience; the show was already a hit. But it became mainstream when a mainstream guy like Ranveer got on it.”
Mika said that he doesn’t want to take Ranveer’s side, only because he’ll be targeted as well, and admitted that Ranveer must’ve said something very offensive. “Bakwas baat ki hogi usne, but his one mistake made the show an even bigger success. Controversy will follow when you become popular,” he said, adding that his father once told him that he must be doing something right if people are finding reasons to hate him.
Both Samay Raina and Ranveer Allahbadia have apologised for their remarks. In the days following the controversy, comedian Kunal Kamra was also targeted for jokes that he made as a part of a comedy set released on YouTube. However, Kunal refused to bow down to pressure and apologise.
