4 min readMumbaiApr 8, 2026 03:09 PM IST
Over a year after his YouTube show India’s Got Latent was taken down following a controversy triggered by Ranveer Allahbadia’s remark, Samay Raina has finally addressed the episode in his comeback stand-up special Still Alive. Samay blamed Ranveer for ‘single-handedly jeopardising’ the future of the artform in India, while also recalling how comedian Tanmay Bhat advised him to leverage political contacts in the aftermath. Samay ended teasing a potential return of India’s Got Latent with a second season.
‘He ruined my mental health’
“There’s no future left for this artform,” said Samay. “He ruined my entire mental health. At least he knows meditation. I don’t know anything. Beer Biceps… the monk who sold my Ferrari,” he added. He claimed he always knew there would be an FIR filed against him, but he never imagined it’d be because someone else said something controversial.
“I didn’t say anything in that episode. I was just quietly sitting in the corner. We Kashmiris always die in crossfire,” said Samay, as the live audience roared with laughter. He couldn’t believe 2025 nosedived from the peak of his career into an abyss thanks to the India’s Got Latent controversy. “February (2025) was hell, bro,” said Samay.
But he also empathised with Ranveer after the YouTuber was in the eye of the storm when the controversy blew up. “It was so unfair what was happening with BeerBiceps. The whole country was after him. I decided I’d defend this guy till the end! But the joke he cracked… I couldn’t even defend him at my home. My mother kept asking me what he said exactly. I said, ‘Let him be. He’s a pathetic guy,’” added Samay.
On Ranveer Allahabadia’s curated image
In the infamous episode, Ranveer posed an inappropriate question to a contestant about his parents, which many viewers found offensive. The remark invited flak from across the nation, and even resulted in three FIRs.
“How could one defend such a pathetic thought? Also, if someone else would’ve cracked the same joke, it wouldn’t have been that impactful. Even if I’d said it, nothing much would’ve happened. The problem is BeerBiceps first made his image for over 10 years around yoga, meditation, and spirituality, before completely turning it on its head on my show. You can’t do both. He broke character, right? That really shocked the audience,” explained Samay.
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What Tanmay Bhat told Samay after the controversy
After the controversy blew up, the first call Samay got was from stand-up comedian Tanmay Bhat, who had a similar experience after the infamous All India Bakchod (AIB) Roast in 2015. Tanmay advised Samay to contact the most influential politician he knows to set the records straight, since “India is a land of contacts.” Unfortunately for Samay, his only contact with political influence was Ranveer Allahbadia himself.
Samay teases second season of India’s Got Latent
At the end of his standup special, Samay also teased the return of his popular YouTube show, saying, “As for India’s Got Latent, people keep asking me if the show will return.”
He added, “I don’t think my show’s Season 1 could have ended on a higher note than this.”
Confirming the comeback, Samay said, “I will bring the show back because I enjoyed doing it. I want to create a completely wild version of the show, while a softer version will go online.”