Creator Discontent: Ranveer Allahbadia case puts content creator community on tenterhooks

Comedians are facing cancellations and there is enough out there to suggest that signing brand deals is going to become a hassle. While some have taken down their videos, others are reviewing and censoring them

By Samidha Jain Forbes India Staff

Published: Feb 24, 2025 10:45:07 AM IST

Updated: Feb 24, 2025 11:08:11 AM IST

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Content creator and podcaster Ranveer Allahbadia.

Neeti Palta has been a stand-up comedian for 14 years. And she seems struck by how much things have changed. “When I started out, comedy was not a very known or popular art form. Today it is mainstream and aspirational. We were not aware of the legalities and rules earlier. However, as more and more controversies come up, a lot of us now run our material through lawyers just to be sure,” says the 45-year-old.

In that case, Palta’s ilk would be queuing up at law offices right now, because it is not only a controversy raging out there but also outrage, death threats, FIRs, and a case that went right up to the Supreme Court.

All thanks to a purported joke Ranveer Allahbadia, 31, who calls himself BeerBiceps, cracked on February 9 on Samay Raina’s so-called talent show on YouTube. What ensued is anything but funny, with top politicians castigating Allahbadia and the apex court asking him to surrender his passport and not air any show until further notice.

It is best to keep what Allahbadia said out of a widely read publication such as this. But much needs to be said about what this is doing to the online content creator community.

Influencer intelligence platform Qoruz says there are more than 4 million influencers in India. Several of them are fearful and uncertain. Many, especially from the comedy genre, declined to speak to Forbes India on this topic, not even anonymously. But there is enough out there to suggest that signing brand deals is going to become a hassle.

Vlogger Shenaz Treasury says she was recently dropped from a brand deal. “I was going to join hands with a platform—a marathon platform. They were offering equity. Following the Allahbadia controversy, they (the brand) called me and dropped me from the project, which is very upsetting," she told Moneycontrol, a digital news platform that is part of the same media group as Forbes India.

Agencies and brands are vetting the content they associate with. Comedians are facing cancellations. Interestingly, so far brands did not seem to mind the language used in many of these shows—sprinkled with frequent references to illicit acts within families—in their attempts to be ‘edgy’ and ‘funny’. That is likely to change. “Now I feel brands will distance themselves from this,” says a young content creator.

Also read: The great Indian influencer burnout

Comedian Daniel Fernandes believes this is a non-issue. “There is plenty of objectionable content on every OTT platform, so why so much outrage over a silly ‘would you rather...’ question?” he says.

Fernandes is of the view that this incident should not make creators bring about any change in their content. “Creators should just keep creating content that they believe in. Let the chips fall where they may,” he says.

To many, that is easier said than done. Many content creators have already started taking down videos, and are reviewing and censoring their content. Comedian Harsh Gujral, for instance, removed the two episodes that were published so far on his roast show on YouTube.

Ramya Ramachandran, founder and CEO of Mumbai-based influencer marketing agency Whoppl, calls for collaborations between creators and regulators and self-regulation by creators. She also thinks that platforms must enhance their content moderation policies, balancing algorithmic oversight with human judgement to minimise cultural misinterpretations.

Not everyone agrees.

Hamza Syed, another content creator in the comedy genre, says regulating comedy will take away people's escape from reality. “Society needs to understand that if comedy starts catering to what people are offended by, there will be literally no comedy,” he adds.

According to Fernandes and Palta, the audience has the means to choose from a host of comedians. They get to decide whose work they like and whose they do not.

Also read: From creator to entrepreneur: The evolution of social media influencers in India

Tanya Appachu Kale, who goes by the username ‘your insta lawyer’ on Instagram, says although humour and satire are integral to free speech, this right is subject to reasonable restrictions, including those pertaining to decency and morality. She, however, believes that this is probably a case of being caught in the wrong moment. “There are people who have gotten away with far worse statements,” she adds.

Speaking of timing, right now the mood among content creators is more of discontent.