Hack: Digital media platform announced they will be cancelling the production of 'On Air With AIB The decision was made owing to the involvement of AIB in recent events Digital media platform, 'Hotstar' announced they are cancelling the production of 'On Air With AIB'. The season three of the show had gone on air on September 24. 'Hotstar' which is involved in the production of the show decided to cancel the production of the season 3, wrote in its official statement, "In light of recent events involving AIB, we are cancelling the production of 'On Air With AIB' Season 3, with immediate effect. We are deeply concerned by these developments, which run contrary to our values as a responsible platform, and will not stand by anything that compromises the respect or safety of women." READ I Gursimran Khamba And Tanmay Bhat Step Down From AIB, Khamba Issues Statement 'On Air With AIB' is a show where the hosts discuss burning current affair topics and create humour out of it based on reactions given by people on the topic. The episodes are released tri-weekly. Certain episodes are titled 'Off-Script', where the hosts sit down with other popular celebrities (most times they invite popular comedians ) and chat about a topic, which is usually personal. READ I Here's How Twitterati Reacted To Tanmay Bhat Stepping Down From AIB Inspired from the west, the #MeToo campaign in India has sure gained heat with several women gathering the courage to point out sexual perpetrators. Of recent, AIB co-founders Tanmay Bhat and Gursimran Khamba were accused of misconduct by several on social media. The two immediately stepped down from the organisation. AIB issued a formal statement regarding the same through their verified social media account. Tanmay Bhat had recently admitted to being aware of comedian Utsav's nature and apologised for not taking any actions. Utsav was accused of sending sexually explicit messages to several women) On the other hand, netizens have been circulating screenshots of Tanmay Bhat's old tweets where he has been making sexist jokes. In another tweet that has gone viral, a woman, who chooses to remain anonymous has accused Bhat of misconduct. Gursimran Khamba, on the other hand, has been accused by a woman, who claims that he forced on her without consent. Khamba issued a statement regarding the same, in which he accepted to bad behaviour, but denied any violation of consent. Get the latest entertainment news from India & around the world. Now follow your favourite television celebs and telly updates. Republic World is your one-stop destination for trending Bollywood news. Tune in today to stay updated with all the latest news and headlines from the world of entertainment.<doc-sep>New Delhi: Digital entertainment platform Hotstar has announced the cancellation of the third season of 'On Air with AIB' in light of the recent developments that struck comedy collective All India Bakchod (AIB). In a statement on Monday night, Star India's streaming platform said it "will not stand by anything" that compromises the respect or safety of women. "We are deeply concerned by these developments, which run contrary to our values as a responsible platform, and will not stand by anything that compromises the respect or safety of women," says the statement. The move comes days after a Twitter user accused actor-comedian Utsav Chakraborty, an ex-AIB member, of sending sexually explicit messages to her and several other women. There are also allegations of sexual misconduct against the group's founder-member Gursimran Khamba. AIB on Monday said its founder-member Tanmay Bhat will "step away” from his association with the comedy group amid allegations that he did not act on complaints against Chakraborty. "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 in a statement. The group said Bhat would not be involved in the day-to-day function of AIB or in any other manner. The woman, who requested anonymity, posted her statement about Khamba through the Twitter handle of a journalist. She said she and the comedian had "hooked up two-three times, consensually and continued being friends" but things escalated when on two separate occasions, Khamba tried "repeatedly to make out with me while we were hanging out". "He lay down on top of me on the couch, I had to physically shove him away, turn my face or push his. He would then stop. And we would hang out, ignoring the entire thing. I continued being friends with him." The woman said the comic later realised he had feelings for her but by that time she was already in a relationship. "This led to drunk calls, threat to ruin friendships, emotional blackmail and (emotional) abuse that went on for five months. In 2016, in Delhi, when we hung out, he wanted to come over, I said no. He said he didn't want to do anything, just spend time with me. I don't disbelieve this. But I said no. This was followed by him being angry and nasty and abusive. "My equation with him has led to incredible stress, anxiety and a burden I carry even today in terms of how I conduct myself and navigate relationships, trust and general insecurity issues," she said. The woman said she decided to come forward because she was sick of the hypocrisy when he is "lauded as a smart, level headed woke" man. "It makes me sick to see people celebrate him when they don't know the context and costs." Khamba acknowledged misbehaving on being rejected but said he never violated her consent. "I am aware of the person who's stated the incident... in 2015 we had hooked up consensually multiple times. But I categorically deny the incident mentioned in October and December. I was not forceful. "It is true that I developed feelings for her while she was dating someone else. During that time given our friendship and history I felt rejected and was angry and did not behave appropriately at all. It had become a toxic relationship and I'd like to apologise unconditionally for it like I had done in the past. That behaviour was extremely uncalled for. She rightly stopped talking to me," Khamba said. He said the woman reached out to him and they tried being friends again, but he was already in a relationship with his now wife. "She was uncomfortable with our past history because of which I stopped talking to her. I'm sorry for my bad behaviour and all he hurt it caused her but I categorically deny any violation of consent," he added. The revelation comes in the wake of a former member of AIB company, Utsav Chakraborty being accused by multiple women of sending his unsolicited nude pictures. AIB had said last week that it has decided to de-list every video featuring the comedian. Utsav had apologised for his behaviour in a series of tweets and said he has "no excuse" for it.<doc-sep>Tanmay Bhat and Gursimran Khamba have stepped away from AIB after #MeToo allegations Video streaming service Hotstar announced Monday it was cancelling the production of third season of 'On Air with AIB' in light of the allegations of misconduct against one of the members of the comedy group. In a statement, Star India's streaming platform Hotstar said it "will not stand by anything" that compromises the respect or safety of women. "In light of recent events involving AIB, we are cancelling the production of On Air with AIB Season 3, with immediate effect," the statement said. "We are deeply concerned by these developments, which run contrary to our values as a responsible platform, and will not stand by anything that compromises the respect or safety of women," it said. The comedy group announced on Monday that two of its founding members Tanmay Bhat and Gursimran Khamba were stepping away from the organisation. While Tanmay Bhat has come under attack for his inaction in the complaints against writer-comedian Utsav Chakraborty, Khamba has been directly accused of misconduct. AIB in a statement said Mr Bhat will not be involved with the day-to-day functioning of the company. The company has placed Khamba on a temporary leave of absence "until we have more clarity on the matter".<doc-sep>Following the allegations of sexual harassment against two of the founding members of All India Bakchod - Gursimran Khamba and Tanmay Bhatt, popular video streaming OTT platform Hotstar has cancelled their deal with AIB. The group of comedians had the web comedy news show called On Air With AIB, streaming on Hotstar, season 3 of which now stands cancelled. Rohan Joshi of AIB shared and confirmed the news on his Instagram stories. Rohan's stories read: "We have been informed by the team at Hotstar that htere will be no further episodes of On Air With AIB, effective immediately. I want to thankt every single person who has ever worked on the show in any capacity, from every last set assisstant to anyone who ever wrote a single word on it. If you see On Air on someone's CV, hire 'em. You won't be disappointed. I would also like to thank the team at Star for their support over the year. Also, much love to anyone who ever watched an episode, and especially the show's loyal fans. Thank you all, crew and audience alike, for letting me live out a boyyhood dream; My own news comedy show. It has been one of th defining experiences of my life" The video streaming platform, Hotstar too put out an official statement on Twitter. Here's what it read: "In light of recent events involving AIB, we are cancelling the production of On Air with AIB Season 3, with immediate effect. We are deeply concerned by these developments, which run contrary to our values as a responsible platform, and will not stand by anything that compromises the respect or safety of women." For those who're uninitiated, after AIB writer and stand up comedian Utsav Chakraborty was accused of sending explicit images to a number of women on social media, both co-founders of AIB - Tanmay Bhat and Gursimran Khamba, have been accused, of mental harassment by an anonymous woman, who knew them on a personal level. While the unknown woman accused Khamba of forcing himself on her, Khamba has reportedly denied the allegations. AIB asked its co-founder and CEO Tanmay Bhat to step away from his association with the compay until further notice. They also placed Khamba on temporary leave of absence.<doc-sep>
In wake of the recent developments that struck comedy collective All India Bakchod (AIB), digital entertainment platform Hotstar announced its decision to cancel the production of the group's online show 'On Air with AIB'. In wake of the recent developments that struck comedy collective All India Bakchod (AIB), digital entertainment platform Hotstar announced its decision on Monday to cancel production of the group's online show 'On Air with AIB'. In a statement on Twitter, Hotstar revealed that the step to cancel production of the third season of the show was taken "in light of the recent events involving AIB". "We are deeply concerned by these developments, which run contrary to our values as a responsible platform, and will not stand by anything that compromises the respect or safety of women," Hotstar said in the statement. The action comes days after a Twitter user accused writer-actor Utsav Chakraborty, once associated with AIB, of sending sexually explicit messages to her and several other women. The comedy group also announced on Monday that its founders Tanmay Bhat and Gursimran Khamba are distancing themselves from the comedy group, which has been battling allegations of sexual harassment against its members. While Bhat has come under attack for his inaction in the complaints against writer-comedian Utsav Chakraborty, Khamba has been directly accused of sexual misconduct. Vidhi Jotwani, HR head at AIB, said in a statement. "Truthfully, we don't know what this means for the future of AIB or whether there is one. In the interim, Ashish Shakya, Rohan Joshi and other senior team members will work towards being able to answer that question over the next several months," she said. Bhat, the statement added, will not be involved with the day-to-day functioning of the company. "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 and in light of this, he will be stepping away from his association with AIB until further notice. Khamba, who has been accused by a woman of misconduct, issued a separate statement denying "any violation of consent". He will be on leave till the company has more clarity on the matter. With inputs from PTI