On February 14, propagandist ‘comedian’ Kunal Kamra hailed fintech company Cred for continuing to work with controversial comedian Tanmay Bhat after his problematic jokes on child rape resurfaced. Kamra was later deleted, but by then, it was picked up by netizens. In a tweet, author Shefali Vaidya questioned why Karma deleted the tweet. She also questioned Cred for continuing its association with “pervert” and possibly “a closet paedophile” like Tanmay “who has made sick jokes about children enjoying rapes.
Why has @kunalkamra88 deleted this tweet and why does @CRED_club continue to associate with pervert and possibly, a closet pedophile like @thetanmay who has made sick jokes about children enjoying r@pes? pic.twitter.com/nSyacEjgu7
— Shefali Vaidya. 🇮🇳 (@ShefVaidya) February 14, 2023
In a tweet, Kamra said, “We must give credit to brave brands like CRED who’re still running with victimised comedian Tanmay’s campaigns… Salute to their bravery for not caving into popular opinion & working with meritorious comedian Mr Tanmay Bhatt.” The tweet has now been deleted.
Following the tweet by Vaidya, many netizens called out Cred for working with Tanmay. Dr Swathi Bellam said, “I am a big user of Cred with nearly 2 million points. I am uninstalling the app because they use some brand ambassadors like #tanmaybhat, who make rape jokes about children. As a Hindu & parent of a small daughter, I can’t use a product endorsed by such people.”
I am a big user of @my_cred
— Swathi Bellam (@BellamSwathi) February 15, 2023
With nearly 2 million points
Iam uninstalling the app because they use some brand ambassadors like #tanmaybhat who make rape jokes on children
As a hindu & parent of a small daughter I can’t use a product endorsed by such people pic.twitter.com/uKgzkWylNl
Twitter user AkhandaBhartiya said, “Thank you, Shefaliji, I have uninstalled the app by Cred, will never associate myself again with them, and have also stopped making any payments through their gateway. Cred cannot have my money and make fun of me, my belief and my faith.”
Thank you Shefaliji, I have uninstalled the app by @cred_club, will never associate myself again with them, have also stopped making any payments through their gateway.@CRED_club cannot have my money and make fun of me, my belief and my faith.
— indi (@AkhandaBhartiya) February 14, 2023
Twitter user Dr Manoj Kandoi said, “Shame on you, Cred!! This is definitely not bravery but suicide to remain associated with a paedophile like @thetanmay.”
Shame on you @CRED_club !!
— Dr manoj kandoi (@drkandoi) February 15, 2023
This is definitely not bravery but a suicide to remain associated with a pedophile like @thetanmay https://t.co/WqMdnEghR4
As of now, there are no running active Cred campaigns that involve Tanmay Bhat. However, Bhat and his team had earlier written ads for Cred, including the one with Rahul Dravid and Venkatesh Prasad.
Kamra criticised Kotak for withdrawing the ad featuring Tanmay Bhat
Kamra earlier expressed his disappointment as he saw no comedian defending Tanmay Bhat, who was removed from Kotak Mahindra Bank’s advertisement. On February 14, Kunal Kamra tweeted, “I can’t believe no comedians are siding with victim Tanmay Bhatt he has faced so many atrocities in life & still counting. Sad day for the comedy world over. Shame on the Indian comedy scene.”
After being called out for supporting a controversial ‘comedian’, Kunal Kamra went into damage control mode, stating that his tweet was meant as sarcasm.
Kotak withdrew the campaign featuring Tamnay
On February 12, Kotak Mahindra Bank’s digital banking handle Kotak811 withdrew the campaign featuring controversial former AIB comedian Tanmay Bhat after it received a backlash on social media. In a tweet, Kotak811 said, “We at Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. do not support or endorse the views of actors made in their personal capacity that harm or offend any individual or group. We have withdrawn the campaign.” The ad campaign also featured comedian Samay Raina.
