Samay Raina recalls suffering from an anxiety attack amid India’s Got Latent controversy; says, “I took half a bottle of sleeping pills, felt like my heart could stop anytime”
Trigger Warning: Mentions of anxiety, distress, and medication use.
Samay Raina, a popular comedian who made headlines over his controversy on India’s Got Latent, shared a new video on his YouTube channel. There, he spoke about the controversy, how he dealt with it, and much more. The comedian even got emotional as he recalled the tough time he went through during that phase. Here’s a look at all you need to know:
Samay gets emotional
The comedian recalled getting a call from his mother and got emotional. He said, “This is the most emotional moment. My mother knows how to give love to me. She is the most innocent soul I have ever met. She is a pure-hearted woman. When I went to KBC, she didn’t know how to broadcast a message. She said, ‘Son, please take care of yourself. You will be absolutely fine.’ I felt so ashamed of myself.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not promote or encourage self-harm or misuse of medication.
When Samay was forced to remove his show from YouTube
He said, “Raaton raat pura show hatana pada. Maine bahut mann se banaya tha woh show. Sab dekhte the pata hai. Humne YouTube se stats nikale the—monthly 4 crore unique devices par log mera show dekhte the. 100 mein se 4 log humara show dekh ke hass rahe the (I had to remove the whole show overnight. I built it with a lot of hard work, and everyone watched it. We found stats from YouTube showing 4 crore unique monthly viewers. 4 out of 100 people laughed at my show). It broke me like anything.”
On Ranveer Allahbadia’s controversial joke
Samay recalled editing the video and revealed why he didn’t cut the joke. He said, “Main tumhe maa ki kasam sach batata hoon. Uss episode mein BeerBiceps ne woh sawal 8 baar poocha tha. Aur iske alawa bhi kayi random sawaal poochhe the usne. Toh jab maine edit dekha, maine kaha, ‘Yeh toh bohot gandi baatein kari hain isne’ (I swear on my mother, I am telling you the truth. In that episode, BeerBiceps asked that question eight times and many other random questions. When I saw the edit, I felt he said some very inappropriate things).”
Samay reveals lying about his ‘Dadi’ on KBC
Samay recalled his time on KBC and shared how he lied about his dadi on the show to carry a clean persona. He said, “Dadi mar gayi hai meri. 7 saal ho gaye hain meri dadi ko mare hue. Waha maine kaha, ‘Sir, dadi meri aapki bohot badi fan hai’… You are not honest on the Indian internet. You cannot be yourself. You play the game, you play the room.”
Samay on Rebel Kid aka Apoorva’s joke
Samay Raina mentioned how a rapper on the show made a demeaning remark on Apoorva and he wanted to stand up for her. However, Apoorva stood up for herself in the moment. He shared, “Kuch cheeze hoti hain na yaar, woh life mein layers mein hoti hain. Surface-level chhodo na yaar: Apoorva, rapper, that was not the moment. The moment was deeper, bigger than that. It was not Apoorva giving a comeback to a rapper from Gwalior. It was a woman standing up for herself and winning against a man.” Samay further mentioned, “Bhai, iss patriarchal setup mein, jahan koi expect nahi karta aurton ka kuch bolna, uss ladki ne ussi ki bhasha mein… She won. He lost. It was a powerful moment. Mereko goosebumps aa gaye… Maine woh party popper liya, Apoorva ke sar pe phoda… 3 FIR. That is the price of women standing up for themselves,” Samay Raina said.
When Samay’s editor got arrested
The comedian said he did not want to delete the show but was forced to after the police arrested his video editor. “I never wanted to remove it. Main US mein tha aur mujhe Mumbai Police ka call aaya ki aapko saare episodes abhi hatane padenge. Maine kaha, main nahi hata raha hoon sir, I live in a democracy, we have freedom of speech. Toh mera editor arrest kar liya unhone. (I was in the US, and Mumbai Police called me to delete the episodes. I refused, saying I live in a democracy and have freedom of speech. So they arrested my editor).”
Samay recalls his time on KBC
Samay shared how he chose to show a clean persona on KBC. He said, “Main samajhta tha, KBC mein jab ja raha tha, ki main har jagah h*rami banta hoon, yaha clean banunga to log bolenge what a versatile creator.” He joked that since Amitabh Bachchan is very active on Twitter, the megastar might have thought Samay had achieved something big when he saw him on TV. He said, “Maybe even won a Param Vir Chakra. Sorry Amitabh ji… that night was the worst night of my life, I felt like I lost all contacts.”