Three stand-up comics post online apologies for ‘hurting sentiments’

Stand up comedian Sahil Shah. (Source: Twitter/@SahilBulla)

THE TREND of digging up old jokes by stand-up comics, in which they have allegedly “hurt religious sentiments”, continued as three more comedians apologised for their sketches.

Stand-up comics Aadar Malik, Sahil Shah, and Azeem Banatwalla were the latest to apologise for their videos on social media platforms. In a video uploaded by Shah, he said he had deleted the video and it was not his intention to hurt anyone’s sentiments. The comedians have requested their families be spared of online abuse. Several stand-up comics were targeted after #Hinduphobiccomedyindustry began trending on social media.

Earlier this week, Twitter users dug up screenshots of jokes by some comedians, including Aditi Mittal and Abish Mathew. In the past few days, several such as Vir Das, Rohan Joshi, and Kaneez Surka stated that their personal contact information and addresses were leaked online, leading to them being trolled. Joshi said his family was being targeted with hate messages and announced a hiatus from social media. On Tuesday, private contact details of these comedians were shared from an anonymous Twitter account, which was later suspended. One of the first stand-up comics to be targeted was Agrima Joshua, who faced allegations of mentioning Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in one of her sketches. She also received several rape threats and abusive videos, following which two persons were arrested for the same.

A source close to a stand-up comic said, “It appears to be a deliberate ploy, where old videos of stand-up comics have been dug up. The personal details of several stand-up comics have been made public. Several of them are receiving abusive messages and rape threats, and there is an atmosphere of fear.”

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