Content creator-turned-actress Kusha Kapila is unhappy with her good “friend”, comedian Ashish Solanki's Pretty Good Roast Show on YouTube. Kusha was part of the episode that aired in June. She was joined by a panel of stand-up comedians including Samay Raina, Gurleen Pannu, Aaditya Kulshreshth, and Shreya Priyam Roy. The artists cracked dark and brutal jokes about Kusha’s divorce from Zorawar Singh Ahluwalia. Now, Kusha has issued a statement on YouTube. She has expressed how some of the “shockingly unkind” jokes “dehumanised” her.
In her elaborate note, Kusha Kapila wrote, “A recent roast I was a part of has led a lot of my female and queer followers to question why did I sit through something that could have been completely avoided and WITH GOOD REASON. Here are my two cents: it was done in good faith and for a friend. Nobody has been paid (neither comics nor guests) for it so the argument that people are “being paid big fat cheques to hear their insults” is baseless.”
Explaining her “rookie mistake”, the actress continued, “Jokes weren't shared beforehand (as it's done in all roast formats in the West) so I had no idea what was in store for me. Maybe I should have asked for a script and known better but since friends were involved I didn't. While I endured some of the really raspy jokes in front of a live audience and technicians, I absolutely was not okay with it playing for millions of people since some jokes straight-up dehumanised me. It was shockingly unkind.”
Kusha Kapila added that her segment was the first to be shot in January, following which “everyone had a fair bit of learnings post shoot which is why in other episodes, boundaries haven’t been crossed, especially with women.”
Revealing why she allowed the episode to go on air with several cuts made, Kusha Kapila said, “Last six months since the episode was shot, I have been a part of various calls and negotiations for every word, every joke, every slur (literal begging has happened). If I hadn't let the episode go live, I would have been called a coward and a crybaby and a different kind of trolling would have ensued.”
“This has been a huge learning for me too since over the course of the last six months during negotiations, I have been told that I deserve these jokes and that as a divorced woman, I should have seen this coming. Maybe I should have and maybe silence on this topic is seen as cowardice but it's mostly choosing peace over endless discourse that will likely villainise women. Simultaneously, when you don't speak, people also choose to believe whatever they want to. So this is me clearing the air as much as I can and advising women artists to have strict riders in place,” she added.
“This is the third roast of my career technically and I shall never sit for one again lol at least not without knowing what may come for me. The previous two roasts were a wonderful experience. This, too, would have been if all parties involved were aware of what may come for them. A considerable section of the male audience believing I deserve this roast further proves our decision to censor the jokes. You may write something as a joke but it's not in your hands if it will be perceived as one. Many women in the live audience post the roast shared their disapproval of the jokes and I understood where they came from I, too, come from the same place,” said Kusha Kapila.
Kusha Kapila signed off by saying, “I am glad y’all enjoy the roast. That’s why even I was seated there – to enjoy it and have the best time and I did to the best of my capacity until it went too far. We all have our boundaries and all of those boundaries are valid and should be respected. I may have sat for the roast but I don’t stand for everything that has come out of it. I take pride in the fact that I didn’t stage a walkout and after what was thrown at me, I found the gumption to still perform.”
Kusha Kapila will next be seen in Life Hill Gayi. The Disney+Hotstar series will be released on August 9. It has been directed by Prem Mistry, and produced by Aarushi Nishank’s Himshrri Films.