AIB co-founder Tanmay Bhat to step down amid #MeToo firestorm

In light of the #MeToo allegations plaguing All India Bakchod (AIB), the comedy group said their head Tanmay Bhat would step down and not be involved in day-to-day activities of the group. He had come under fire for failing to take action on fellow comic Utsav Chakraborty despite being aware about allegations of sexual harassment against him. In a lengthy statement earlier, the group said Tanmay Bhat, who is one of their founding members, knew about the accusations against Utsav and had confronted him in a "personal capacity".

"It has been said that AIB knew of the accusations during employment and failed to take actions. We would like to offer some clarity on that. We messed up. Since yesterday we have been trying to introspect and process what we did wrong, and everything that came during our conversations all feel like excuses in hindsight and fact of the matter is that we messed up," AIB had then said.

In a fresh statement, AIB tweeted: "We have been closely monitoring the sequence of events on social media around the allegations against AIB and also against our co-founder and CEO, Tanmay Bhat. We cannot overlook Tanmay's role...".

Just a few days after allegations against Chakraborty surfaced, one of the founding members of the AIB, Gursimran Khamba, was accused by a woman of misconduct, but the comedian has categorically denied "any violation of consent". The woman, who requested anonymity, posted her statement through the Twitter handle of a journalist.

She said she and the comedian had "hooked up two-three times, consensually and continued being friends", but things escalated when on two separate occasions, Khamba tried "repeatedly to make out with me while we were hanging out".

"He lay down on top of me on the couch, I had to physically shove him away, turn my face or push his. He would then stop. And we would hang out, ignoring the entire thing. I continued being friends with him."

The woman said the comic later realised he had feelings for her but by that time she was already in a relationship. "This led to drunk calls, threat to ruin friendships, emotional blackmail and (emotional) abuse that went on for five months. In 2016, in Delhi, when we hung out, he wanted to come over, I said no. He said he didn't want to do anything, just spend time with me. I don't disbelieve this. But I said no. This was followed by him being angry and nasty and abusive."

"My equation with him has led to incredible stress, anxiety and a burden I carry even today in terms of how I conduct myself and navigate relationships, trust and general insecurity issues," she said. According to AIB, Khamba will also step down along with Tanmay.

With inputs from PTI