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Apoorva aka The Rebel Kid also shared the aftermath of the incident where people on the internet issued rape and death threats and even threatened her with acid attack messages. In the video, she apologised for her comments on the show and said that her jokes were not funny.

Apoorva Mukhija, popularly known as The Rebel Kid, recently opened up about The India’s Got Latent controversy and what she had been through due to the row. She was one of the judges on the panel during the infamous episode of Samay Raina’s show. On Wednesday (April 9), she shared her first video on YouTube since the controversy and addressed the controversy.

What did Apoorva Mukhija say?

She further elaborated that it was the second half of the show when the controversial contestant came on the stage and started “speaking rudely to one of her friends who was sitting in the audience”. She added, “This guy comes on stage and he was saying some disrespectful stuff and trying to be funny. Samay asked him to behave multiple times but he was at it.”

She began her video by saying that people advised her to not speak about the issue and move on with her life. She recalled that the episode shoot of India’s Got Latent was six to seven hours long, and in the first half, she didn’t say anything except make a joke about being a computer science engineer. Apoorva recalled freaking out and even texted her manager that she doesn’t want to be there as she had a “full-blown panic attack” in the green room during the break because she felt that she wasn’t being funny on the show and Samay consoled her.

She recalled that the contestant made inappropriate comments about her ‘vagina’ in front of everybody and that’s when she said the controversial statement. She further stated, “So when I said that statement, it genuinely did not come from a place of being funny or creating a moment or being savage, it genuinely came from anger and retaliation. My intention wasn’t to hurt anyone, except for that guy’s ego.”

Apoorva apologised for her statement

Apoorva apologised for her remarks on the show and said that she never meant to hurt anyone but genuinely wanted to create content to entertain people and to make them laugh. She further added, “I never wanted to hurt anybody, and I am very very sorry. I should have been more mindful of my words, but I have learnt my lesson, and I promise I will do better going forward. I just hope you guys can forgive me, and I am very sorry if I hurt your sentiments.”

She agreed that she went on to make more jokes that were in bad taste, and when she later heard them, she didn’t find them funny. She added, “When I heard those jokes, I didn’t find them funny. I am literally on your team. I don’t know why I was saying these random things just to seem cool, but I am very sorry. They were all in bad taste, and I should not have said such stupid things on a show.”

Apoorva on disturbing threats

She added that her parents supported her, but trolls found her mother’s social media account and started writing nasty stuff in the comments section. She also recalled the day she went to record her statement with the police, calling it a “dehumanising experience” because of how paparazzi behaved towards her. She concluded by saying, “I deserve this because I did this. My parents did not deserve this.”

Apoorva shared that she was told by her manager that she could not go back to her home as people might attack her. She recalled reading her DMs which were all “graphics of how people want to rape her, throw acid and stuff like that”. She added, “It is impossible for so many humans to tweet the same thing unless and until somebody is asking them to tweet the same thing.”

Hania Aamir backs Apoorva Mukhija

Pakistani actress Hania Aamir came out in support of Apoorva Mukhija. She posted on her Instagram Stories, “A separate place in hell”, referring to those who had threatened her. Hania re-posted Apoorva’s Instagram post, where she shared disturbing threat messages she received on social media following the controversy

What is India’s Got Latent controversy

Apoorva Mukhija found herself embroiled in legal troubles after the controversial episode aired on YouTube. During the episode, her vulgar and distasteful remarks led to multiple FIRs against her.

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