Post #MeToo controversy, AIB let go its entire team

Mumbai-based popular comedy group All India Bakchod (AIB) released a statement on Wednesday, updating their current status of having no income revenue and operational cost due to which the group had to let go their office space and the entire team overnight.

According to the statement, AIB shared on social media that the group will be dead until further notice. "The AIB YouTube channel is for all intents and purposes, dead for the foreseeable future - there will be no new sketches anytime soon, "read the statement.

The post also stated that its co-founders Tanmay Bhatt and Gursimran Khamba will no longer work with the group. "We cannot overlook Tanmay's role and in light of this, he will be stepping away from his association with AIB until further notice. This implies that Tanmay will not be involved with the day to day functioning of AIB or in any other manner, wrote Vidhi Jotwani, Head of Human Resources, AIB.

The move came after Tanmay was accused by several women of overlooking sexual misconduct complaints filed against ex-AIB member Utsav Chakraborty over social media in October.

AIB then issued a statement which said, " We cannot overlook Tanmay's role, and in light of this, he will be stepping away from his association with AIB until further notice."

Meanwhile, there is no clarity on allegations of sexual harassment by an unknown woman on Khamba, who claimed that he tried to "forcefully" kiss her in 2015 on two occasions.

The group also noted that owing to these situations, AIB has decided to undergo a restructuring in order to ensure a balanced work environment.

"We understand that disconcert of any kind adversely affects the work culture and creates an unsafe space for our employees. Nobody should have to work in an environment such as that, and we hope to enable measures to establish our commitment to creating a gender-sensitive workspace," the statement read.

Explaining the reason for the closure, the statement said, "After the events of early October, things moved fast. Almost all of our partners hit freeze on future associations, while others pulled out of active projects effective immediately. All of this hit revenue hard."

This comes at a time when several Bollywood celebrities including Nana Patekar and Vikas Bahl have embroiled into a controversy over sexual harassment allegations levelled by Tanushree Dutta and Kangana Ranaut respectively.