A 2023 video of YouTuber Samay Raina roasting rappers at the launch of a music album is falsely viral claiming it shows the comedian sarcastically apologising after the recent India’s Got Latent controversy.
Comedian Raina and YouTuber-Podcaster Ranveer Allahbadia were booked by the Maharashtra Police for the alleged use of ‘obscene and foul language’ on the India's Got Latent show. The police action was a consequence of massive outrage online over Allahbadia's joke posed as a question to a contestant.
Raina recently posted on X that he had pulled down all of India's Got Latent videos from his channel. The viral video is being shared on Facebook with the caption, "Samay Apology Video After Controversy".
In the 29-second video, Raina can be heard taking in Hindi saying, "If someone has felt bad because of my jokes, I have kept a feedback form on top, fill in it up and then put it up your %*#"
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FACT-CHECK
BOOM found that the viral video pre-dates the current controversy. The video is from a November 2023 show where Raina was 'roasting' (mocking by way of offensive jokes) Indian rappers at an event.
Taking a hint from replies on the post, we ran a reverse image search on a key-frame of the video using Google Lens and found results from 2023 from the launch of Karam, a music album.
Using further specific keywords, we found the same posted on November 2, 2023 on YouTube. In the original video, Raina is not tendering an apology but mocking those present by saying if they have a problem with his jokes, they should fill a feedback form and put it up their '%*#'.
The same sequence of events as in the viral video can bee seen from the 10 minute timestamp.