GenZ vs Boomers? Celebrities, influencers divided over India’s Got Latent controversy

New Delhi: The India’s Got Latent controversy following Ranveer Allahbadia’s comment has gotten bigger and bigger. As the public forms its opinion on the scandal, celebrities have chimed in to express their disbelief or disgust surrounding the show’s humour. While most celebrities have been condemning the show and Ranveer Allahbadia’s remark, quite a few influencers have shown support for Samay Raina.

Although India’s Got Latent was already facing small-scaled backlash for its comedy previously, the latest episode of the now-deleted YouTuber show spun the hate out of control. We have seen celebrities come out and criticise the vulgar language and also others taking Samay’s side and calling comedy subjective. We have noticed a pattern among these celebrity responses. The ones against the ‘abusive’ language were majorly boomers, or the older generation of artists and comedians while GenZ celebs have been more understanding.

This might point to the stark difference in ideologies, humour and values of the older generation against the younger ones. Take a look at how celebrities have reacted to this nationwide topic.

Bollywood celebs condemn Samay Raina’s India’s Got Latent

The 69-year-old renowned film producer, Boney Kapoor spoke about the controversy and stated that he does not endorse such comments or behaviour. He suggested self-censorship and urged content creators to be disciplined online. Similarly, 49-year-old comedian, Sunil Pal urged authorities to strict action against such controversial content creators. “Ye aatankvaadi hain jo abhadr bhaasha aur ashleel saamagree ka upayog karate hain. Mera maan’na hai ki unhe iss tarah ke gandagee failaane ke liye kam se kam 10 saal ke jail ki sazaa milni chahiye,” said Sunil Pal to Times Now.

The 39-year-old singer and music director B Praak also took to his Instagram to announce that he would be cancelling his appearance on Ranveer Allahbadia’s podcast and heavily criticised the state of comedy in India. The 58-year-old renowned music composer, AR Rahman also recently took a dig at the comedian. At the Chhaava event, AR Rahman subtly referred to the controversy and said that it is better, “I think, in the past week, we have all seen what happens when the mouth opens.”

Influencers in support of Samay Raina

A fellow YouTuber and comedian, Rohan Joshi took to his Instagram stories to subtly take Samay Raina’s side amid controversy. While referring to his AIB controversy alongside Tanmay Bhat, Rohan’s post read, “All of this has happened before, all of this will happen again.”  Similarly, Tanmay Bhat liked comments relating to the controversy on his latest Valentine’s Day special YouTuber video.

Vir Das has also faced similar backlash for his controversial take on the Indian public’s hypocrisy. While he did not outright support the statements made on the show, he did call comedy subjective. However, he urged the audience to understand the consequences such a controversy can have on a comedian’s career. He further called out media outlets for attempting to ‘take down new media’. “And while they debate what good comedy is, please debate what good journalism is, and the news that they should be doing, the questions they should be asking, and who they should be asking them to,” Vir Das requested the public.

Online influencers such as Urofi Javed, comedian Bharti Singh, rapper Kr$na, and actor Aly Goni have taken Samay Raina’s side amid the massive backlash against the YouTuber.

On the other hand, the 37-year-old actor, Varun Dhawan has previously expressed interest in appearing on India’s Got Latent and revealed that he would ‘thrive in such as setting’. But, he was concerned about the backlash and unnecessary hate on Samay Raina and decided to skip it.

Taking these reactions into consideration, it is to be noted that the widespread controversy has divided the public. Slowly becoming a ‘Boomer vs GenZ’ topic, we can see where the public has drawn their lines.