Comedy group AIB, known for their YouTube sketches, came under the scanner during the #MeToo movement in India. The company on Wednesday issued a statement stating that the AIB YouTube channel is “dead for the foreseeable future.”
The statement read, “The AIB YouTube channel is for all intents and purposes, dead for the foreseeable future – there will be no new sketches anytime soon.” It further read, “We recognise that the culture at work may not have been perfect and simply put, we need to be better.”
Tanmay Bhat, the CEO of the company, was held responsible for encouraging comedian Utsav Chakraborty who was allegedly harassing women. Following this revelation, Bhat was asked to step down and was also made a non-participant in the day-to-day functioning of the company.
The statement included Bhat’s present role in the organisation and read, “We maintain that Tanmay Bhat’s lapse of judgement regarding Utsav Chakraborty was egregious. As a result, even though Tanmay Bhat’s suspension has been lifted, he will no longer hold the position of CEO.”
Gursimran Khamba, another member of AIB, was accused of harassment by a woman in 2018. She raised her allegations on social media. He was sent on a temporary leave of absence until the matter was fully investigated. As per this statement, an External Committee was formed to look into the allegations against Khamba but he stepped away from the process citing issues with the procedure.
“Gursimran Khamba will no longer be involved in operations at AIB, and will be working independent of us,” the statement read.
As far as the future of AIB is concerned, it read, “Rohan Joshi and Ashish Shakya will continue to manage the remaining affairs at AIB, but will also be pursuing solo interests in the coming future.”
Gursimran Khamba took to social media and responded on the statement.
He announced his new venture Light@27.
