Samay Raina has released his comeback stand-up special, Still Alive, over a year after being embroiled in the India’s Got Talent controversy, in which he’s recalled the episode in detail. The stand-up comedian revealed he was in a state of “psychosis” after three FIRs were filed against him owing to YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia’s inappropriate joke on his YouTube show.
“I sometimes wonder if I should’ve edited that video. I had such a great life going on till January 2025. Every YouTube video of mine had 5 to 6 crore views. Every reel, every podcast is talking about me. I’m in all their thumbnails. Every celebrity wants to meet me. All other comedians are jealous of me. They were struggling to make similar content. It was so much fun. I was king, man,” recalled Samay.
He milked that momentum by announcing his biggest US tour till then, selling out 50,000 tickets across arenas and stadiums very quickly. Samay recalled how he edited the Ranveer Allahbadia episode during his first-class flight to the US so that he doesn’t have “anything to worry about” during his US tour. After he put out the video, there was no harsh feedback for the first day, but the hate began trickling in the next morning.
Samay faced a potential loss of Rs 8 crore
The third day, when he had his first US tour show in Seattle, his friend woke him up and informed him about the controversy. Samay wasn’t as perturbed by then as he assumed it’s a regular news circle. But he soon found out that the controversy even made it to primetime television news. The controversy didn’t exit the news cycle even for as long as two weeks.
“If the bring-back-Samay-Raina narrative fuelled up and they brought me back to India, then I’d have to cancel my life’s biggest US tour. My team calculated that in the worst-case scenario that I’d have to go back to India, how much loss I’d have to bear. Rs 8 crore! I swear to God, I had Rs 8 crore as my life savings then. I had to build a house, but now all of that would go to shit,” said Samay.
Anxiety attack before the show
He revealed that while he generally suffers from anxiety attacks, it got to a point when he began shivering before the show, his heart started pounding, he began sweating profusely, and started feeling breathless, like it happens in a vertigo. He messaged his therapist, who advised him to not go up on stage since that would make his anxiety attack worse. But he didn’t cancel his show.
After he got his show got over, Samay checked his phone again. “My phone was heating up because I was getting so many calls and messages from random people. I realised my number had gotten leaked. I was getting abuses and death threats with my parents’ photos. It escalated like anything that evening. My last Instagram post had 20,000 comments,” recalled Samay.
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‘I was in a state of psychosis’
In order to distract himself and concentrate on his US tour, he put his phone away and went to a casino instead. Later, an Indian server at that casino told him that three FIRs have been filed against him in the India’s Got Latent controversy — in Maharashtra, Jaipur, and Assam, with the last one filed by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sharma.
“When I saw that the Assam CM has filed an FIR, my heart sank like anything. I got so scared I couldn’t believe the CM, politicians, and media are against me. Half of my fans turned on me, were making memes. I swear to God I felt like it was a dream, it wasn’t real. I’m touching things around me to see if they’re real. It’s the worst state to be. It’s called psychosis. Some people are unable to get out of this state. I got so scared,” confessed Samay.
Upon his return to India, Samay was summoned to the Supreme Court. The comedian deleted all the episodes of India’s Got Latent following the controversy.
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About India’s Got Latent controversy
In 2025, Samay Raina, Ranveer Allahbadia, and Apoorva Mukhija (The Rebel Kid) landed in the middle of a major controversy following an episode of India’s Got Latent. The backlash was sparked by an inappropriate question posed by Ranveer to a contestant about his parents, which many viewers found offensive. The clip quickly went viral, triggering widespread outrage online and resulting in multiple FIRs being filed against Samay, Ranveer, Apoorva, Ashish Chanchlani among others.
This article is based on statements made by Samay Raina in his stand-up special and recounts his personal experiences during the India’s Got Latent controversy. The content discusses severe psychological distress, anxiety attacks, and psychosis; if you or someone you know is struggling or in distress, please reach out to a qualified professional immediately. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking it because of something read online.
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