In their letter they said: "AIB Knockout was another such attempt to try something new and bring the roast format to a country where celebrities aren't often known to laugh at themselves. To our pleasant surprise, we managed to bring together consenting adults who were willing to be made fun of by other consenting adults in a crowd full of (wait for it) consenting adults."
All India Bakchod on February 4 replied to the ongoing controversy regarding the 'Roast' videos on YouTube. In a 1,165-word letter to the general public, they responded in their standard AIB manner; beginning with a quote: '"I may not agree with you, but I will defend to death my right to get offended. How dare you? Baahar mil." – Desi Voltaire.' Their letter spoke of their stand on the issue and that they are co-operating with authorities.
They clarified that they did not take the videos down due to threats, but were just being pragmatic.
In their letter they said: "AIB Knockout was another such attempt to try something new and bring the roast format to a country where celebrities aren't often known to laugh at themselves. To our pleasant surprise, we managed to bring together consenting adults who were willing to be made fun of by other consenting adults in a crowd full of (wait for it) consenting adults."
They explained that the "Video came with a clear disclaimer with several age and content warnings. No one was forced to watch it, we didn't buy airtime on every single TV channel on Earth to broadcast it. YouTube videos do not magically auto-play in front of you. And yet, the videos got over 8 million views. Far more importantly, on the video page, the people who liked them outnumbered the people who disliked them by ten times to one. Yes, ten times."
It also added, with humour, that if they really wanted to annoy or hurt people, they would rather sell credit cards over the phone. "Over the last few days, we've found ourselves subject to more scrutiny, judgment and opinion than we're worth. This Knockout shouldn't matter. In a secure culture it wouldn't matter," the letter read.
They explained the format of the show along with why they do what they do. They thanked their fans and were surprised with the support they received from right-wing and left-wing people. They said: "Thank you to anyone who has stated in the last few days that we have the right to say what we want, not as comedians but more importantly as citizens of this country. There's a larger cultural conversation going on here, where we're at the very edges of what it's okay to say. And it's a conversation we need to have now because the world we live in is entirely too complicated to be run by silences. We still stand by our belief in the right to absolute freedom of expression for us and for anyone who has anything to say about anything at all. We hope to be part of an environment that supports that sort of expression without fear of persecution, intimidation and most importantly, annoyance. As always, in our own AIB way we'll continue to strive towards creating that very environment."
They ended their response by stating that they are co-operating with authorities and hope to resume normal services soon. "We'd like some sort of cheerful resolution to this so we can focus on more important national issues, like the upcoming Cricket World Cup. P.S. Best of luck Virat Kohli. Sorry for the jokes. We <3 you. P.P.S. It's a good thing nobody's downloaded the file and put it on a torrent website or anything," they signed off.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}