Samay Raina recorded his apology 9 times after India's Got Latent row: 'I was dead, crying all the time'

Samay Rain

In his latest comedy special, Still Alive, comedian Samay Raina got candid about the infamous India's Got Latent controversy last year and how the time was really tough on him. He has now revealed that he tried to record an apology video nine times, admitting he was mentally zoned out and demotivated when the entire controversy unfolded.

Samay Raina recorded his apology nine times

Samay, in a new podcast on The Longest Interview with Vaibhav Munjal, looked back at the controversy and mentioned that writing Still Alive "healed" him. He added that the podcast was recorded at Mumbai's Habitat, which is run by his friend Balraj Ghai, and happens to be the same studio where India's Got Latent was shot.

Samay shared, "I'm like this today because of that (writing Still Alive). 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 comedian went on to reveal that after Ranveer Allahbadia issued an apology for his remarks, he was also advised by his lawyer to release an apology video. However, despite multiple attempts, he was unable to record one.

"I recorded that apology nine times... At that time, I was just doing whatever people were saying. I was just f'''ed," Samay recalled saying he never ended up posting the apology video. He further confessed that he hit his lowest when Balraj Ghai could not accompany him to Canada for his shows since he didn't have a visa. He shared, "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."

During the podcast, Samay further mentioned that several comedians, including Vir Das and Tanmay Bhat, helped him navigate through the controversy. While Vir asked him to "write it all down", Tanmay was in constant touch with him over the phone.

About the India's Got Latent row

In 2025, Samay found himself embroiled in controversy following Ranveer Allahbadia's remarks on his show, India's Got Latent. Ranveer's comments led to massive backlash throughout the country. Ranveer Allahbadia, Ashish Chanchlani, and Apoorva Mukhija appeared on the panel of Samay Raina's show wherein Ranveer's question to a contestant about ‘parents and sex' sparked a controversy.

Multiple FIRs were filed against Ashish, Apoorva, Ranveer, and Samay. Ranveer issued a public apology, while Samay was "forced" to remove all episodes of the show from YouTube.