Ashneer Grover faces backlash for forcing comedian to delete roast video

Ashneer Grover, the co-founder and former managing director of fintech startup BharatPe, who gained fame for his blunt demeanor on the first season of Shark Tank India, has found himself in the midst of yet another controversy.

This time, it's for allegedly pressuring a comedian to take down a roast show he participated in.

Grover recently appeared on "Pretty Good Roast," a popular comedy show hosted by comedian Aashish Solanki. During the roast, Solanki made jokes about Grover's ousting from BharatPe, a segment that has since gone viral on social media.

According to Solanki, Grover was displeased with the jokes and requested that his segments be removed from the video. Subsequently, Solanki received a legal notice demanding the entire video be taken down. The comedian complied with the request.

"Friends, I have removed the Ep 5 of Pretty Good Roast. I don't have money to fight the legal battle. I had spent all of it on the show," Solanki stated in a post on his Instagram. "The response on previous episodes led us to believe our audience were ready for roast humor. However, it seems that some, especially those in power, are not quite there yet," he added.

This incident has ignited a wave of criticism on social media, with many accusing Grover of "doglapan" (duplicity), a term he popularized during his time on Shark Tank, which also became the title of his book, "Doglapan: The Hard Truth about Life and Start-Ups."

Following Shark Tank season 1 in 2022, Grover and his wife were removed from BharatPe amid allegations of fund misappropriation.

Post his television stint, Grover ventured into content creation on social media, featuring in Instagram reels, YouTube videos, and podcasts with various content creators. He has remarked that he has earned more money from creating content on social media than he did during his entrepreneurial journey.