Ranveer Allahbadia
Credit: X/@BeerBicepsGuy
New Delhi: The controversial remarks of YouTuber and podcaster Ranveer Allahbadia in stand-up comedian Samay Raina’s reality show India’s Got Latent has snowballed into a major issue, with many calling out for a ban on his podcast.
Two Mumbai lawyers have already filed a police complaint against Allahbadia, better known as the BeerBiceps Guy, who has over 600,000 followers on X, 4.5 million on Instagram and 10.5 million subscribers on his YouTube channel.
Even Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis expressed concern over the crass comments and indicated action.
“I have been informed about this, though I have not watched it yet. I came to know that it was very vulgar and this was wrong. Everyone has freedom of speech but this freedom ends when we encroach upon others' freedom. Everyone has limits, if anyone crosses them, action will be taken,” said Fadnavis, who is also the state home minister
Allahbadia, however, tendered an unconditional apology.
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."
"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.
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.
The Mumbai police has started making inquiries.