The controversy surrounding comedian Samay Raina‘s roast of actor Kusha Kapila‘s divorce from Zorawar Ahluwalia continues to simmer. Earlier this year, Kusha had labelled the jokes “dehumanising”, sparking a heated debate. Now, Samay has opened up about the aftermath of the incident, revealing that his bond with Kusha has been damaged. Also read: Blocked! Samay Raina reveals Kusha Kapila’s response to ‘dehumanising and unkind’ roast
Samay Raina reveals
During a Reddit AMAs (Ask Me Anything) session, the comedian acknowledged that the day when they can laugh about the incident and move forward is still a distant reality.
In middle of the session, one user asked, “Who’s your fav comedian? And how do you try to stay out of controversies? How’s your friendship with kusha now?”
Samay didn’t ignore the question and shared that he is fond of her.
He said, “I don’t have a favourite comedian, I have favourite jokes. I love and learn from sooo many comics that the list won’t stop if I start writing it down. I don’t chase controversies, I just be myself and something or the other happens. Learning to deal with it smoothly. Friendship with Kusha is not the same, we rarely talk but I spoke to her recently and it was great! I am fond of her regardless. I hope someday she and i can laugh about everything openly but that day has time. Always rooting for her success.”
About the roast
In an episode of the comedy series Pretty Good Roast Show S1, Kusha had participated in a roasting session alongside other comedians. However, the evening took a sharp turn when Samay unleashed a barrage of jokes targeting Kusha’s marriage and her recent divorce from Zorawar. The biting remarks sparked a heated controversy, with many questioning whether the jokes had crossed a line from humour to hurtfulness.
Kusha married Zorawar in 2017. They announced their separation in June 2023. Samay began his roast by calling Kusha a ‘gold-digger’. He then went on to make jokes about her divorce, also referring to the pet dog, which Kusha shares with her ex-husband.
“Kusha has a female dog, who is with Kusha half the time, and during the other half remains happy. Just give the dog to Zorawar. Let him have at least one b**ch in his life,” he said in Hindi. Some of the comedians also took a dig at Kusha’s recent weight loss.
Later, Kusha took to social media to share that ‘shockingly unkind’ jokes were cracked about her body and her divorce. She wrote, “When someone’s trying to disempower you, it’s their garbage. It’s not yours to store. Let it slide off you.”
She said, “I had no idea what was in store for me. Maybe I should have asked for a script and known better but since friends were involved I didn’t. Rookie mistake.”
“While I endured some of the really raspy jokes in front of a live audience and technicians, I absolutely was not okay for it to play for millions of people since some jokes straight up dehumanised me. It was shockingly unkind,” Kusha shared, adding, “Mine was the first episode to be shot (was shot in January) so everyone had fair bit of learnings post shoot which is why in other episodes, boundaries haven’t been crossed, especially with women.”
