BookMyShow removes all content of comic Kunal Kamra amid joke row, delists him
News Mania Desk / Piyal Chatterjee / 5th April 2025
In a significant setback for Kunal Kamra, the online ticketing service BookMyShow on Saturday eliminated all content associated with the stand-up comedian and took him off the roster of artists on its site.
This follows a day after Shiv Sena (Shinde faction) youth leader Rahool N Kanal sent a letter to BookMyShow, asking the company to refrain from offering a platform for Kamra, due to his contentious comments about Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
Requesting the website not to facilitate the sales of tickets for Kamra’s upcoming show, Kanal stressed that “continuing to facilitate ticket sales for his events could be perceived as an endorsement of his divisive rhetoric which may have serious repercussions for public sentiment and order in the city.”
“Such remarks not only hurt the sentiments of public at large but also have the potential to incite public mischief and disrupt social harmony. By providing a platform for his performances, BookMyShow inadvertently lends credibility and reach to an individual whose actions threaten public order, particularly in a vibrant and diverse city like Mumbai, where your company is headquartered,” Kanal wrote further in his letter to the online ticketing platform, which was shared on X.
Shortly after the ticketing platform’s choice to remove Kamra from the roster of performers, Kanal praised the action, expressing gratitude to BookMyShow for eliminating all content associated with the artist. On Tuesday, the Mumbai Police delivered a third summons to Kamra related to an FIR involving defamation and comments constituting public mischief. The Mumbai Police also came to his residence on Monday in an effort to determine if the comedian would show up for them.
After the controversy, Kamra, who lives in Tamil Nadu, went back to his home state after getting around 500 death threats via phone. He subsequently went to the Madras High Court and managed to obtain temporary protection from arrest by the Mumbai Police.
