The India’s Got Latent roast show has turned into an India’s Got Lawsuits situation, with podcaster Ranveer Allahbadia, YouTuber Apoorva Makhija, comedian Samay Raina, and others finding themselves at the centre of a growing controversy. With fresh FIRs, police action, and even Parliament weighing in, the roast has well and truly gone up in smoke.
Fresh FIR filed: The roast that keeps on burning
Mumbai Police have registered a new FIR against multiple influencers over remarks made during the show, citing allegations of degrading family values and hurting religious sentiments. Complainant Sanmati Pandey took particular offence at Allahbadia’s “Would you rather watch your parents have sex every day for the rest of your life or join in once and stop it forever?” joke, arguing that it insulted the sanctity of marriage and was made with “malicious intent.”
Meanwhile, Apoorva Makhija’s comments about food habits in Arunachal Pradesh have sparked outrage, with critics calling them “irresponsible and divisive.” Assam Police have also jumped into the mix, filing their own case and sending a team to Mumbai for further investigation.
With public outrage at a rolling boil, the National Commission for Women has summoned Allahbadia and others to appear on 17 February. The Maharashtra Cyber Cell is also on the case, with at least 30 people from the show expected to be called in for questioning.
Faced with the mounting backlash, Allahbadia issued a public apology, admitting that his joke was neither “appropriate nor funny.” He added, “Comedy is not my forte. I had a lapse in judgment, and it was not cool.” Unfortunately for him, the damage was already done—his social media following reportedly took a 50,000-strong nosedive overnight.
Magicpin’s savage roast of the roasters
Adding a side of extra spicy to the drama, food delivery platform Magicpin decided to serve up a roast of their own. The company put up a billboard reading, “India’s Lost Talent. Comedy ki limit honi chahiye, par discounts ki nahi (There should be a limit to comedy, but not to discounts).”
The ad, featuring animated characters that suspiciously resemble the show’s panellists, quickly went viral. Sharing it on X (formerly Twitter), Magicpin quipped, “Can we get back the magic in comedy?”—a not-so-subtle dig at the controversy.
Comedians, critics, and parliament join the debate
While several celebrities have slammed the remarks as “vulgar and irresponsible,” others argue that the outrage is “selective morality at play.” Some even questioned whether law enforcement had bigger issues to tackle than policing comedy.
The controversy has now reached the halls of Parliament, with Shiv Sena MP Naresh Mhaske demanding censorship on OTT platforms. Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi has promised to raise the matter at a House panel.
What started as an edgy comedy show has now turned into a full-blown legal, political, and social storm. FIRs are flying, social media is divided, and influencers are learning (the hard way) that not every joke lands well—especially when the audience includes the police, Parliament, and the National Commission for Women.
As the controversy rages on, one thing is certain: India’s Got Latent is now infamous for all the wrong reasons.