Comedian Samay Raina, who is at the centre of a controversy over the distasteful remarks made in his YouTube show 'India’s Got Latent', may lose brand collaborations after an FIR was registered against him at the Bandra court.
Besides Raina, the FIR also names YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia, YouTuber Ashish Chanchlani and other organisers of the show India’s Got Latent for spreading obscenity and vulgarity.
Raina is in the eye of the storm after airing comments on the sexual and intimate relationship between one of the contestants and his parents. The episode has since been taken down from the streaming platform after the National Human Rights Commission demanded YouTube to do so.
Who is Samay Raina?
#WATCH | Maharashtra | The team of Mumbai Police leaves from the Khar studio where the show, 'India's Got Latent' was shot
— ANI (@ANI) February 10, 2025
Earlier, A complaint was filed against YouTuber Ranveer Allahabadia, social media influencer Apoorva Makhija, comedian Samay Raina and the organisers of the… pic.twitter.com/qULpbNDZeu
An engineer-turned-comedian, Raina shot to popularity, winning the comedy contest Comicstaan in 2019. Since then, he has been conducting stand-up shows, but it was the pandemic that made him a YouTube star. He shot to fame after he began streaming chess games along with multiple comedians and chess masters. His channel has 7.41 million subscribers and has 966 videos.
Known for his unhinged comic style and edgy jokes, Raina's show 'India’s Got Latent' has a huge viewer base. Thanks to its success, top brands, including boAt, KFC, Spinny, Wok Tok, Swiggy, and Blinkit, collaborated with him.
An earlier report by Net Worth spot also pegs Raina's total net worth at Rs 140 crore.
Unconfirmed reports also claim that Raina earns around Rs 1.5 crore every month through the show, courtesy of its uncensored content. The comedian is also said to be releasing controversial clips on his 'Members only' platform, which further adds to his income.
As per reports, Raina used to charge Rs 5 lakh per post until 2022. A LinkedIn post by Deepti Karthik, a fractional CMO, has now resurfaced, wherein she shares her experience of working with the stand-up comedian in 2022.
Karthik said her company paid Raina Rs. 5 lakh for a post but did not follow the company's guidelines, which garnered severe backlash. Following this, the post was pulled down from the brand's page. She said the post received terrible sentiments but "generated sales of over Rs. 25 lakh in the following two months, making it the most profitable influencer collaboration we’ve ever done!"
However, the recent controversy may affect Raina's brand value, many believe.
Azazul Haque, group chief creative officer at Creativeland Asia, has referred to Raina and Allahbadia as "an empty bunch of scumbags" and rallied against collaborating with people like them. "Just for getting eyeballs stooping down to a level where they are not just discussing but applauding the joke that's about joining your parents in sex!!! I am feeling disgusted beyond one can imagine," he adds further.
However, this isn't the show's first run-in with controversy. Earlier, it stoked a row after airing remarks about dog meat, mocking disabled people and disrespectful remarks about Uorfi Javed and Deepika Padukone.
