Mumbai studio where Kunal Kamra performed controversial show shuts down: ‘shocked, worried and extremely broken’

In a statement on Instagram, The Habitat said, “We are shocked, worried and extremely broken by the recent acts of vandalism targeting us. Artists are solely responsible for their views and creative choices. We have never been involved in the content performed by any Artist, but the recent events have made us rethink about how we get blamed and targeted every time almost like we are a proxy for the performer.”

“We are shutting down till we figure out the best way to provide a platform for free expression without putting ourselves and our property in jeopardy. We invite all artists, audience and stakeholders to discuss and share their views freely and request your guidance so that we also respect the performers’ rights.”

The police have registered an FIR against 35-40 Sena party activists and also detained a few.

Habitat is the same venue where controversial episodes of India’s Got Latent show were also shot, and the studio witnessed protests after the incident. The Khar police summoned and recorded statements of the operators of the studio as part of their investigation against comedian Samay Raina and podcaster Ranveer Allahbadia after he allegedly cracked an ‘objectionable joke’ on Raina’s show.

Later, Allahbadia apologised for his ‘insensitive jokes’ and Raina too deleted all Latent episodes from his YouTube channel. Allahabadia, Raina and other comedians, artists, etc, were booked in connection with the controversy and an investigation is underway into the case.