New Delhi: Comedian Kunal Kamra has sought confirmation from online ticketing platform BookMyShow after news reports claimed that the company had removed his content and delisted him as an artiste on their platform.When the news broke on April 5, Kamra had told The Wire that he too was trying to verify reports.The reported action came a day after a Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction) youth leader requested the platform not to host Kamra’s shows, citing his latest comedy special ‘Naya Bharat’ which drew the ire of the Maharashtra government. Although Kamra did not name Eknath Shinde – Maharashtra’s deputy chief minister – by name, Shinde’s party members vandalised the studio in which he did his show, and filedResponding directly to the reports, Kamra posted on X, tagging the ticketing company, one of the largest in India: “Hello @bookmyshow can you please confirm if I have your platform to list my shows? If not, it’s fine. I understand”.He wrote:I understand that you need to maintain a cordial relationship with the state, and I know that Mumbai is a major hub for live entertainment. Without the state’s cooperation, iconic shows like Coldplay and Guns N’ Roses wouldn’t be possible.However, the issue at hand isn’t about whether you can or will delist me—it’s about your exclusive right on listing our shows. By not allowing artists to list their shows through their own websites, you’ve effectively prevented me from accessing the audience I’ve performed for from 2017 to 2025.You take a 10% cut of the revenue for listing shows, which is your business model. However, this raises an important point: No matter how big or small a comedian is, we are all compelled to spend between 6,000 to 10,000 rupees a day on advertising to reach our own audience. This cost is an additional burden that we, as artists, must bear.While you might argue that data protection is a concern, the question of who protects what data, and from whom, is a much broader conversation.What I’m requesting is simple: please ensure that you hand over the contact information of the audiences you’ve collected from my solo shows so that I can continue living my life with dignity and work towards a fair livelihood. As a solo artist, especially in the world of comedy, we are both the show and the production. For instance, if I performed at the Pune Comedy Festival with 30 other artists, that would be considered comedy’s collective data. But my solo shows—that’s my audience. The least I deserve, should you choose to delist me, is access to them.With that in mind, I request one of the following:– Do not delist me, or– Provide me with the data (contact information) I’ve generated through your platform from my audience.Thank you for your understanding.He notes that he does not support calls for a boycott of the company: “To the audiences I’m not a fan of boycotts or down rating a private business… Book my show is well within their right to do what’s best for their business.”The company has responded to growing criticism of its delisting with an ambiguous message.⚠️ Official Statement pic.twitter.com/iXVSRmBISt— BookMyShow (@bookmyshow) April 7, 2025Critics on X have commented on the move:#BookMyShow pic.twitter.com/x020Ea5rDF— Ashish Bagchi (@BagchiAsh) April 6, 2025
