Who is Apoorva Mukhija aka Rebel Kid, and why is she slammed for saying things that are always said on Samay Raina’s India’s Got Latent

But who is this Apoorva, aka Rebel Kid, who seems to have riled up many for statements that have almost been the bread and butter of many guests throughout the many episodes of the show.

Apoorva, a computer science engineer, did what is expected of most engineers in the digital era. She switched streams to a much more lucrative field and became a content creator, and then got promoted to an influencer too. Through her smarts and efforts, she garnered over 2.7 million followers on Instagram, prompting Forbes to recognise her as one of the Top 100 Digital Stars. In fact, when she was bestowed this honour in 2024, she wrote, “Look maa I am on Forbes India again. This is my second year of being on this list and a lot has changed in the past one year, in fact my most difficult year professionally was the last one year.”

As is the saying, you live by the sword and you perish by it. Some netizens were scathing with their responses to her videos, and in her own words, “I was casually slut shamed by what felt like the entire internet and judged at every step.” In fact, she shared that many even broke into her DMs to wish for her downfall, but she still managed to have ‘so much fun at my lowest too.’

One of her lowest moments was a recent confluence at the Delhi Technological University where a video of her giving back to her hecklers went viral. When their words couldn’t affect her, and hers affected them, it took the college security to stop an altercation between that group and Apoorva. With the video becoming viral, it was a reinvigorated following albeit with the percentage of dissenters increasing too.

For someone whose rise to fame was relatable content that became the toast of a section of the internet during the COVID-19 lockdown, Apoorva has come a long way with appearances in TV ads, and episodic series on YouTube. Her partnerships range from cosmetic brands like Maybelline to apparel brands like Nike and online food delivery brands like Swiggy.

Was Apoorva’s comments on India’s Got Latent filled with swear words? Yes. Was she the only one who did it? Nope. Why the outrage over her words and not others? Your guess is as good as ours.

But for someone who recently said, “The Rebel Kid started as a dream – a dream to be free, a dream to wake up every day and do the things that I love,” it is clear that comedy is no place for rebels, especially if the cacophonous crowd on social media decides that it is a rebel without a cause.

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Comedy is a serious business… but as WC Fields added, “A serious business with only one purpose–to make people laugh.” But there is one more caveat to be added… Who makes the people laugh matters more than who laughs… or not