▲ Comedian Praneet More (left) and Himanshu Jangra
A man in his 20s in India has been fired from his job after facing intense backlash from netizens over inappropriate remarks he made during a comedy show.
According to Indian media outlets including The Times of India (TOI) on June 11, Himanshu Jangra (22), who worked as a web developer at a company in the northern state of Haryana, recently attended a public comedy show hosted by comedian Praneet More as an audience member.
During the show, Jangra was handed the microphone and shared an anecdote about a recent date with his girlfriend. He made comments that could be interpreted as implying he expected a sexual encounter in return for buying her a chicken biryani (a chicken fried rice dish) that cost 370 rupees (approximately 6,000 KRW) for dinner.
Jangra stated that he was surprised when his girlfriend, whom he had driven home after the meal, asked to be dropped off without further interaction. A video containing his remarks spread rapidly on social media, fueling the controversy.
Netizens who viewed the video criticized Jangra, interpreting his comments as an expectation of physical intimacy in exchange for the cost of a meal.
The backlash reached the company where Jangra worked, with a flood of messages, emails, and protest calls demanding disciplinary action against him.
Ultimately, the company's CEO fired Jangra, stating that his behavior, which did not align with the company's values, had disrupted business operations.
The CEO received support from many netizens for the decision to terminate his employment.
However, some have expressed the opinion that the disciplinary action was excessive.
TOI reported that the focus of the controversy has now shifted from the appropriateness of Jangra's remarks to how social media reacts to public personal mistakes, and whether there is any room for redemption for individuals targeted by collective online criticism.
As the controversy escalated, show host More apologized via social media, admitting it was a mistake not to intervene and stop Jangra's inappropriate comments, and subsequently closed the social media account that had posted the video in question.
(Photo: NDTV capture, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.