Ranveer Allahbadia is popularly known as BeerBiceps. The news of him developing a stormy controversy came under public attention when he made an offensive remark on a YouTube talent show called India’s Got Latent. Even after issuing a public apology, this whole series of events turned into a legal battle, with lots of FIRs made against him and the other participants of the reality show.
What Really Happened?
Well, India Got Latent is a Youtube show by Samay Raina, and during one of the episodes, BeerBiceps AKA Ranveer Allahbadia served as a guest judge. Someone asked a question to give Allahbadia the interpretation he got:
“Would you rather watch your parents have sex every day for the rest of your life or join in once to stop it forever?”
People do call it crude, vulgar, inappropriate; part of it went public, and the users demanded action against Allahbadia and the creators of the show. All of this happened on social media.
Response to Allahbadia’s Apology
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On this note, Allahbadia quickly issued an impromptu public apology for his outburst:
“It was not smart. Not even funny. I’m not a comic. I’m just here to apologize. I personally had a lapse in judgment. That wasn’t cool on my part.”
However, the controversy only became bigger and rather than that, strained the relationship between concerned authorities and those even related to this show.
Legal Actions: FIRs in Assam and Maharashtra
The controversy has resulted in the lodging of two FIRs in Assam, against Allahbadia, comedian Samay Raina, and over thirty others associated with the show.
- Assam FIR: The first FIR was lodged in Guwahati, Assam, for obscene content under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act.
- Maharashtra Cyber Police FIR: The Maharashtra Cyber Cell filed the second FIR, alleging the show-creators had used ‘obscene and foul languages’ through six episodes of the show.
- The case names the hosts, guest judges, participants, and other contributors to India’s Got Latent.
- Another applicable provision cited in the FIR is section 67 of the IT Act, which deals with the publication of obscene material online.
- All of them in the case will be summoned for questioning in the course of investigation.
Government and Political Reactions
The black issue finally made its way into the Indian Parliament, with Shiv Sena MP Naresh Mhaske raising the matter in Lok Sabha, wherein he demanded stricter regulations for online content and sought censorship measures to ensure such occurrences never happen again.
The NHRC (National Human Rights Commission) also took cognizance of the issue and urged YouTube to take down the offensive episode.
Episode Taken Down from YouTube
In the wake of this incident, YouTube removed the episode in question from its platform on the government’s instructions. Kanchan Gupta, Senior Advisor, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, confirmed that the government had ordered the blocking of the episode.
Conclusion
The BeerBiceps AKA Ranveer Allahbadia controversy highlights the increasingly scrutinised public eye under which digital content creators operate, as well as questioning issues of online censorship and free speech. This case is under investigation in the police with two FIRs filed and is nowhere close to being, but significantly far from, being concluded.
In tandem, the GBS, or Guillian-Barré syndrome, death case in Mumbai is the first death to be documented as a result of this condition, and therefore raises public health alarms in Maharashtra. Health precautions are advised as the authorities are monitoring the situation amid the seeping occurrence of this rare disease.
