Content creator-actor Kusha Kapila grabbed attention recently after her roast on comedian Aashish Solanki’s Pretty Good Roast Show on YouTube, in which comedians Samay Raina, Aaditya Kulshreshth, Shreya Priyam Roy and Gurleen Pannu cracked jokes on her life, acting career, sex life and even on her recent divorce with internet personality Zorawar Singh Ahluwalia, after which some of Raina’s potshots (we reached out to him, but he refused to comment on the matter) at her were censored in the video. In an elaborate statement posted on YouTube, Kapila called the roast “shockingly unkind”. Excerpts from her statement:

“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.”

“While I endured some of the really raspy jokes in front of a live audience and technicians, I absolutely was not okay for it to play for millions of people since some jokes straight up dehumanized me. It was shockingly unkind (sic).”

“Mine was the first episode to be shot (in January), so everyone had fair bit of learnings post shoot which is why in other episodes, boundaries haven’t been crossed, especially with women.”

“Over the course of 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 villainize women.”

“This is the third roast of my career technically and I shall never sit for one again, 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 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 and I, too, come from the same place.”

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.

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. Rookie mistake.