AIB co-founders Tanmay Bhat, Gursimran Khamba to step down amid #MeToo allegations

Mumbai, Oct 8: Stand-up comedian and co-founder of the popular collective All India Bakchod, Tanmay Bhat has quit AIB in the wake of MeToo allegations against Indian celebrities on social media.

Tanmay Bhat, who is AIB's chief executive officer, will not be involved in the day-to-day functioning of All India Bakchod after he was caught up in the #MeToo firestorm that has been raging on the Indian social media over the last few days.

Gursimran Khamba, on the other hand, has been placed on temporary leave following allegations that he emotionally harassed a woman and showered her with unwanted attention.

With both of its senior partners exiting, AIB said, "Truthfully we do not know what this means for the future of AIB or whether there is one".

Tanmay Bhat, one of the headliners of the comedy collective, would not be involved in the day to day functioning of AIB or in any other manner, said the group.

"We have been closely monitoring the sequence of events on social media around the allegations against AIB and also against our co-founder and CEO, Tanmay Bhat. We cannot overlook Tanmay's role..." AIB said.

The group had in an earlier admitted that Tanmay Bhat knew about the allegations against Utsav and confronted him "personally" but failed to take action. "...everything that came during our conversations all feel like excuses in hindsight and fact of the matter is that we messed up."

Neither Tanmay Bhat nor AIB cut Utsav off and kept collaborating with him. "I should've ended ties then, and I didn't, and it is my fault. I'm truly sorry. I should've acted stronger," Bhat had said on Friday.

On Gursimran Khamba, AIB said the allegations were, for now, related to a private matter. "However, as an organisation, we believe it would be prudent to place Gursimran Khamba on temporary leave of absence until we have more clarity," said AIB.

Since the allegations against Utsav Chakraborty erupted on Twitter, AIB has had to put out more than one statement with its apology and defence.