Indian Influencer Claims Divorce Roast ‘Straight Up Dehumanised’ Her

An Indian influencer and actor, Kusha Kapila, recently shared her distress following a comedian’s roast, stating she felt “straight up dehumanized” by the jokes about her body and her recent divorce.

Kapila appeared on comedian Ashish Solanki’s “Pretty Good Roast Show,” which was filmed in January and released on YouTube a month ago. The roast featured Kapila alongside a panel of standup comedians, including Samay Raina, who was responsible for some of the harshest jokes.

Following the episode’s release, fans questioned Kapila’s decision to participate and accused her of allowing these jokes at her expense for monetary gain.

During the roast, Raina began his segment by referring to Kapila as a “golddigger,” offhandedly commenting on her size. The comedians also made remarks about her recent weight loss and divorce.

Kapila married influencer Zorawar Ahluwalia in 2017, and the couple announced their separation in June 2023. Raina made several jokes about the divorce, including one involving their shared dog.

Raina said, “Kusha ke paas ek kutiya bhi hai, jo aadha time Kusha ke paas rehti hai aur baaki time khush rehti hai. De de na, Zorawar ko kutiya. Uski life mein koi kutiya toh ho.” (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 dog in his life.)

Many of Raina’s comments were muted or bleeped out, with a disclaimer stating, “Some jokes had to be removed because we were not ready for them.”

Kapila addressed the controversy in a YouTube statement, acknowledging the “shockingly unkind” jokes. She explained she had agreed to appear on the show because the host was a friend and she had no prior knowledge of the jokes.

“A recent roast I was a part of has led a lot of my female and queer followers to question why I sat through something that could have been completely avoided, and WITH GOOD REASON,” Kapila wrote.

“Here are my two cents: it was done in good faith and for a friend. Nobody has been paid (neither comics nor guests) for it so the argument that people are ‘being paid big fat cheques to hear their insults’ is baseless.

“Jokes weren’t shared beforehand (as it’s done in all roast formats in the West) so 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.

“While I endured some of the really raspy jokes in front of a live audience and technicians, I absolutely was not okay with it playing for millions of people since some jokes straight-up dehumanized me. It was shockingly unkind.

“This has been a huge learning experience for me too. Over the last six months during negotiations, I have been told that I deserve these jokes and that as a divorced woman, I should have seen this coming. Maybe I should have and maybe silence on this topic is seen as cowardice, but it’s mostly choosing peace over endless discourse that will likely vilify women.

“Simultaneously, when you don’t speak, people also choose to believe whatever they want to. So this is me clearing the air as much as I can and advising women artists to have strict riders in place.”

Source: Independent