Comedian Kunal Kamra erupted a major controversy by calling Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde a ‘traitor’ for his 2022 rebellion against the Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government. Following this, the Mumbai Police registered an FIR against the comedian based on multiple complaints by Shiv Sena MLA Murji Patel for his remarks during a show.
However, interestingly enough, this is not an isolated incident when Kamra has made headlines. Earlier he has been involved in numerous controversies. Here is a series of incidents where Kunal Kamra faced backlash over his blatant acts.
1. Contempt of Court Case
In 2020, the Supreme Court charged Kunal Kamra with contempt of court following a series of tweets criticizing the Supreme Court as a “Supreme Joke” after the apex court granted bail to journalist Arnab Goswami in an abatement to suicide case.
In his tweets, he manipulated an image showing the Supreme Court in saffron color with a BJP flag on top of it.
He also mocked former CJI Justice DY Chandrachud by comparing him to a flight attendant serving champagne to first-class passengers, further glorifying his anti-stance against the judiciary.
2. ‘Brahmin-Baniya’ Remark for Supreme Court
In May 2020, a petition was submitted to the Supreme Court against Kamra for his “Brahmin-Baniya” remark about the judiciary. The plea was filed as an intervention application in an ongoing contempt of court case against him.
3. Kamra Harassed Arnab Goswami
While traveling on a flight from Mumbai to Lucknow in January 2020, Kamra harassed journalist Arnab Goswami, for which he was banned from major airlines including IndiGo, Air India, GoAir, and SpiceJet for six months. The incident also sparked criticism against Kamra on various social media platforms.
4. Kamra Attacks PM Modi Over Covid-19
In 2021, he criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a video, accusing him of mismanaging the COVID-19 crisis and enabling the resurgence of cases in the country.
In May 2020, Kamra sparked controversy by sharing an edited video of a seven-year-old boy singing for PM Modi during his Germany visit. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) called for action against him, alleging he had shared a “doctored” video.
5. ‘Kashmir Files’ Controversy
In 2022, lawyer Chandni Preeti Vijaykumar Shah petitioned India’s Attorney General, KK Venugopal, urging legal action against the ‘comedian’ under the State Emblem of India (Prohibition of Improper Use) Act, 2005. She alleged that he had disrespected India’s National Emblem by altering it in a fake certificate, which mocked the suffering of Kashmiri Pandits and ridiculed the film The Kashmir Files.
That same month, lawyers Ashutosh Dubey and Vineet Jindal also approached the Attorney General, requesting permission to initiate contempt proceedings against the ‘comedian.’ They argued that his recent comedy video had insulted and defamed the Indian judiciary.
6. Harassment of Female Comedians
In a blog that went viral on social media in 2020, a woman named Anubha Sinha alleged that comedians Kunal Kamra and Utsav Chakraborty—who had been accused during the #MeToo movement—created fake Twitter accounts to harass female comedians.
Titled “When Kunal Kamra was unheard of, fat, unfunny, and would harass female stand-up comics by making fake Twitter accounts,” Sinha’s blog claimed that she once overheard Kamra admitting that he and Chakraborty used fake profiles to target female stand-up comedians. She stated that while she had remained silent about this in the past, she chose to speak out after Kamra confronted Arnab Goswami on an Indigo flight.
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