Comedian Samay Raina is finally opening up about the mental toll of the India’s Got Latent controversy that shook the internet in 2025. In a recent candid conversation, Raina revealed that he tried to record an apology video nine times but failed to post it, describing his mental state as being completely “zoned out” and feeling like a “dead body.”
The controversy, which erupted after guest Ranveer Allahbadia made an inappropriate remark on the show, led to multiple FIRs and forced Raina to remove all episodes from YouTube. Now, nearly a year later, Raina is sharing what really happened behind the scenes and how fellow comedians helped him find his way back.
Samay Raina’s Lowest Point After the Show
Samay Raina spoke on The Longest Interview podcast with Vaibhav Munjal about the difficult period following the India’s Got Latent fallout. He revealed that writing his new stand-up special Still Alive helped him heal from the trauma.
“Balraj has seen me. I was like a dead body. I was just zoned out. I was just looking around. Just depersonalised, detached from the world. Just looking at people smiling and feeling like s**t.”
The podcast recording took place at Mumbai’s Habitat, the same venue where India’s Got Latent was filmed. The location added emotional weight to Raina’s reflections on the past year.
Raina’s lowest moment came during a tour in Canada when his friend Balraj Ghai could not join him due to visa issues. He was completely alone in freezing weather.
“Ten days, 10 shows, and it was minus 27 degrees Celsius. We were in Edmonton, Calgary, and I was dead at that time. I was just crying all the time. I was just f****ng demotivated. I would just be in my room,” Raina recalled.
Why the Comedian Never Posted His Apology
After Ranveer Allahbadia issued a public apology for his remarks, Raina’s lawyer also advised him to record an apology video. But despite multiple attempts, the comedian could not bring himself to post it.
“I recorded that apology nine times… At that time, I was just doing whatever people were saying. I was just f***ed,” Samay said on the podcast.
He never ended up releasing the video. The failed attempts show how the controversy had left him unable to function normally. Raina admitted that he was simply following orders from others without any sense of control over his own actions.
How Vir Das and Tanmay Bhat Helped Samay Raina
During the darkest days of the controversy, Vir Das and Tanmay Bhat stepped up to support Raina. Their guidance proved crucial in helping him process the situation.
Vir Das, who faced his own cancellation after his I Come From Two Indias special in 2021, gave Raina simple but powerful advice.
“He said, ‘I just wrote about it. Whatever you’re feeling right now, just note it down. You may not have a perspective today, but you’d get it some day,’” Raina recalled.
Raina followed this advice and started writing immediately. He filled folders with notes about his feelings and experiences. Tanmay Bhat stayed in constant touch with Raina over the phone, worried about the younger comedian’s safety and mental health.
Playing guitar and poker also helped Raina get through the difficult months.
Turning Pain Into Comedy: The ‘Still Alive’ Special
Raina wrote his stand-up special Still Alive in just two months, which he called unusually fast for comedy material of this quality.
“I wrote it after it all started in Feb. I had a show in four days, which I couldn’t cancel. I needed to address the elephant in the room,” Raina explained.
The first time he tested a joke about the controversy in Washington DC, the audience reaction was overwhelming. The whole floor shook from applause and laughter. That response convinced him to keep writing more material on the topic.
By the end of his US tour, Raina had 15 minutes of solid content about the controversy. But when he returned to India, all his shows got cancelled as the situation worsened at home.
He continued writing through March and April and tested new jokes during a May tour. When he returned to The Habitat for open mic spots, the audience went crazy. By his seventh show there, he had a complete one-hour special.
“They had tears, I had tears. I put my pain down on paper and showed it to the world as it is, and helped ourselves through it,” Raina recalled.
He described Still Alive as “the fastest thing I’d ever written because there was so much pain within.” Normally, writing a comedy special takes a year or two.
Also Read:
What Happened During the India’s Got Latent Controversy
The India’s Got Latent controversy began in February 2025 when Ranveer Allahbadia, also known as BeerBiceps, made an inappropriate comment about parents and sex to a contestant on the show. The panel for that episode included Ashish Chanchlani and Apoorva Mukhija alongside Allahbadia.
The clip went viral and sparked nationwide outrage. Multiple FIRs were filed against Allahbadia, Chanchlani, Mukhija, and Samay Raina as the show’s host. While Allahbadia issued a public apology, Raina was forced to remove all episodes of India’s Got Latent from YouTube.
The court later allowed Allahbadia to resume his podcast in March 2025. Mukhija also returned to YouTube and revealed that she had faced death threats during the controversy.
Raina has previously shared that he felt completely abandoned during this period. He said that everyone turned their backs on him and that he consumed half a bottle of sleeping pills at his lowest point.
Also Read: Kartik Aaryan’s Naagzilla Release Postponed to February 2027, Makers Prioritize VFX Quality
For more exclusive entertainment news and honest stories from your favorite celebrities, keep visiting VvipTimes. We bring you the real talk behind the headlines.
