Key Points
A 2024 clip from India’s Got Latent has resurfaced, bringing renewed criticism of comedian Samay Raina.
The backlash centers on a sexual remark made after an audience member reportedly left because her father suffered a heart attack.
Social media users have criticized the clip, arguing it reflects normalization of misogynistic humor in the name of comedy.
COMEDIAN SAMAY RAINA has once again found himself in a controversy over a previous remark he made during his show. A clip from the first season of India’s Got Latent has recently gained traction on social media, wherein Samay was seen continuing to make jokes and remarks about a girl who had to leave the show early owing to her father’s health condition. The old clip, dating back to 2024, has sparked a debate over how casual misogyny and sexual remarks are normalized in the name of comedy.
Shortly after Samay Raina’s India’s Got Latent second season was released, an old clip of the first season started making rounds on social media. After the first season’s episodes were removed from YouTube following a controversy, many people have been eagerly awaiting the latest episodes of the new season. However, the old clip has put a certain damper on things, as it showcased the comedian’s misogynistic remarks.
In the midst of the show, a girl was seen walking out. Noticing her visible distress and the tears in her eyes, Samay asked her companion if the woman was alright or not, to which the man replied that the woman had to leave because her father had suffered a minor heart attack.
Samay took notice of the man’s calm demeanor when talking about his supposed girlfriend's situation. The comedian asked why the man wasn't accompanying and giving her comfort.
Asking why the man didn't go after his girlfriend, Samay passed a lewd remark: “kandha dega tabhi toh wo head degi…” (Give her shoulder, then she’ll give you head)
The audience burst into laughter after the comedian’s remark. After the clip resurfaced, many users have criticized Samay for joking about a sensitive matter and passing sexual remarks upon it.
Reacting to the ‘joke,’ Indian journalist and author Neelesh Mishra quoted the video clip in an X post and remarked that “we are becoming poorer humans as artistes and audiences in the name of entertainment.”
“This is not comedy. Artistes who don’t care that an audience member has run out of the hall because her father had a heart attack. An audience that doesn’t care either. Everyone is laughing. EVERYTHING IS CONTENT. And there is a larger audience that supports this in the name of “freedom of speech”. Please watch this and reflect. We are becoming poorer humans as artistes and audiences in the name of entertainment,” read Mishra’s X post.
Reacting to the clip, one social media user wrote, “Kandha dega tabhi toh head degi”- Samay Raina to a guy in the audience when his girlfriend leaves crying as her dad has a minor heart attack.”
Another user drew a parallel with Samay's remark to the ‘370 biryani’ controversy that happened during comedian Pranit More’s show, remarking that both kinds of comedies are bad. The user wrote, “No better than ‘370 rupai diye hain biryani ke liye vasoolunga toh sahi’ Yes comedy is not the biggest problem in our country, but such casual f*** boy, locker room language has become mainstream and also contributes to crimes and violence against women. Men get away with this kind of language/crimes because other men participate and applaud when women are spoken about like that. So don’t @ me with your gyaan.”
Yet another netizen leveled criticism against Samay himself, stating that the comedian doesn't deserve a platform for his “crap.”
“I feel pathetic for defending this guy when the entire drama happened. He doesn’t deserve a platform at all, let alone a platform that you have to pay for to watch this crap. could’ve easily called out his behaviour but he turned it into a joke for a few giggles,” the comment read.
(Edited by Vaishnavi Sivadasan)
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