In the most recent members-only show, BeerBiceps, whose real name is Ranveer Allahbadia, asked a participant a question that wasn't his own. In the show, Allahabadia said, “Would you rather watch your parents have sex every day for the rest of your life or join in once and stop it forever.” Post the controversy, Ranveer Allahabadia took to his Instagram handle to share a video. In the video, he apologised for his comment and said, “Comedy is not my forte. Just here to say sorry.”
This caused a lot of backlash, which resulted in the suspension of all episodes, the cancellation of the show, and numerous FIRs against the panel. Furthermore, the scandal has gone beyond entertainment, as comedian Samay Raina's Indian tour was cancelled. Devendra Fadnavis, the chief minister of Maharashtra, publicly addressed the matter after it became so heated.
On June 14, 2024, Samay Raina presented the debut of India's Got Latent. Raina taped several episodes but kept them secret while it worked on the structure and scoring system before to its formal debut. In multiple interviews, Raina acknowledged that the episode was inspired by the American comedy series Kill Tony, which was starred by Tony Hinchcliffe. A novel scoring system was implemented by India's Got Latent, enabling competitors to display a variety of skills, including as dancing and coding.
Participants evaluated their own performances, while judges assigned extra points. The contender won if their self-estimate and the judges' average score were in agreement.
Without a main sponsor in its early years, Raina provided candidates with financial support by allocating ticket sales from that particular performance as prize money. When comedian Rohan Joshi playfully remarked, "India’s Got Latent"—a smart twist on the traditional talent show format—in a reaction video on Tanmay Bhat’s channel, the program’s title appeared.
Because of the show's enormous popularity—episodes have had over 20 million views, which is an incredible accomplishment in the age of short-form content—long-format videos (60–90 minutes) were able to hold viewers' attention.
As soon as brands realized how successful Raina was, they teamed up with her. Businesses that supported the show included Spinny, Boldcare, WeTok by Veeba, POP Upi, XYXX, and Vastrado. After an episode aired, Vastrado reported a 20-fold increase in website traffic and a 150% increase in income. Additionally, contestants became quite popular, which resulted in partnerships like Blinkit and Swiggy. Cashify even sponsored an episode that received negative reviews. But in the midst of the storm, Myntra, which had collaborated with Raina, canceled its Valentine's Day campaign.
Ranveer Allahbadia, who uses the YouTube and Instagram handles BeerBiceps and Ranveer Allahbadia, witnessed a dramatic decline in followers after the dispute. According to the analytics site Social Blade, between February 10 and 12, BeerBiceps lost 90,000 subscribers, and Ranveer Allahbadia lost around 100,000 on YouTube. BeerBiceps lost 42,800 Instagram followers between February 10 and 11, and Ranveer Allahbadia's account lost 35,700 followers over the same period.
Samay Raina was impacted by the scandal in a different way. He deleted all of India's Got Latent videos from his SamayRainaOfficial YouTube channel on February 12th, which is estimated to have cost him 433 million views. His social media following, however, grew in spite of the criticism; on February 10th, he added 80,000 YouTube followers, followed by 30,000 and 20,000 in the next two days. His channel often attracted 10,000–20,000 followers per day prior to the controversy.
Spotify, Mountain Dew, Amazon Prime Video, Ajio, Intel, Wow Skin Science, Samsung, Brut, Asus, and boAt are just a few of the companies with whom Allhabadia has previously worked. In addition, he co-founded Monk Entertainment (Monk-E), a digital media firm that provides services for influencer marketing, social media management, video production, and talent management. Top influencers like BeYouNick, Gaurav Taneja, Be Ghent, Mumbiker Nikhil, Shanice Shrestha, Larissa D'Sa, Aksh Baghla, and Niharika are represented by the agency. Influencer management companies can also be affected by this situation.
Due to his comments on comedian Samay Raina's YouTube show "India's Got Latent," YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia, also known as BeerBiceps, is receiving a lot of negative feedback. BeerBiceps' remark about having "sex with parents" has drawn criticism and trolling directed at both Ranveer Allahbadia and Samay Raina.
Internet users are horrified by the comments. Politicians, celebrities, and the general public have all expressed disapproval at Allahbadia's remarks as well as those of his other panelists. On digital platforms, there is a call to take action against content producers who use offensive, abusive, or inappropriate language. Through his social media accounts, Allahbadia apologized and admitted his error, but his problems are far from over. A formal complaint was filed against Allahbadia, Raina, and the other judges on the panel, who included video creator Apoorva Makhija (also referred to as the rebel child), comedian Jaspreet Singh, and YouTuber Ashish Chanchlani.
A wider discussion on free speech, so-called "dark humor," and content policing of digital platforms like social media and over-the-top (OTT) has also been triggered by it. Samay Raina's YouTube channel has deleted every episode of India's Got Latent. Raina has shown his desire to work with authorities, and Ranveer Allahbadia has apologized publicly.
Political party social media accounts have used the 'latent' theme to disparage opponents in the scandal, which has sparked political reaction. This poses an important query: Can comedians like Raina, who openly mocked companies that paid him while skillfully fusing satire and influencer marketing, carry on using this tactic? Are influencers going to start endorsing more conventional brands now?
OTT platforms had made substantial proposals to purchase the show's intellectual property, Raina disclosed in a recent live stream. He refused, though, stating that he wanted to preserve narrative independence and was worried about creative control. The long-term effects on the comedy and influencer scene are still unknown when the dust settles.