Abhishek Malhan Breaks Silence Amid Backlash Over Viral Reel Promoting E20 Fuel: ‘Video Is 1.5 Years Old’ | Television News
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Amid E20 controversy, Abhishek Malhan aka Fukra Insaan has clarified that his ethanol promotional reel circulating online is 1.5 years old and was taken down long ago.
Abhishek Malhan Breaks Silence Amid Backlash Over Viral Reel Promoting E20 Fuel: ‘Video Is 1.5 Years Old’
YouTuber Abhishek Malhan aka ‘Fukra Insaan’ has broken his silence on the E20 (20% ethanol-blended fuel) controversy after facing backlash online over a promotional video which has gone viral on social media. Addressing the criticism in an Instagram video, Abhishek clarified that the reel was made around 1.5 years ago, and was taken down long ago. He said he was being unnecessarily targeted as debates around ethanol-blended fuel intensified.
For the unversed, the viral reel showed Malhan advocating for E20’s environmental and agricultural benefits. It sparked massive backlash when fellow creator Sourav Joshi claimed the fuel severely damaged his car and dropped his mileage. However, he later clarified that his vehicle issue was related to an engine problem.
Abhishek Malhan Breaks Silence On Backlash Over Viral Reel Promoting Ethanol
Abhishek Malhan shared a video on Instagram clarifying that the viral reel was posted 1.5 years ago, and was taken down later. “Hi guys, I usually don’t make such reels, but I want to tell you a small story. There is a YouTuber named Sourav Joshi who uploaded a vlog where he said that his car’s mileage started decreasing because of ethanol and that his car might even break down. The next day, he posted an apology note and clarified that his car was not damaged because of ethanol and that there was an issue with his engine. Mercedes also posted a tweet related to it,” said Malhan.
According to Abhishek, the situation soon turned into a political debate where people were looking for someone to blame. “But in the middle of all this, a dirty political fight started between two sides. Obviously, they wanted to make someone the face of this issue — someone who had promoted ethanol. Suddenly, a lot of hate started appearing on my feed, where people were using my clips and saying, ‘Abhishek is promoting ethanol.’ First of all, I want to clarify that the video being circulated is 1.5 years old, from when E20 was launched,” he said.
Abhishek Malhan Says ‘Unnecessary Hate’ Is Being Directed At Him
He further added that back then, he wasn’t the only YouTuber who made a video promoting ethanol-blended fuel. “Many other big YouTubers did it too, but I don’t want to take their names because I don’t want them to face the same hate that I am facing. I am used to it. Whenever something happens in life or in the market, I somehow automatically become the target. People use my face and spread hate. Whenever a product launches in the market, it gets promoted. You don’t know at that point how it will impact people in the future. We received the campaign for that reel from Bharat Petroleum through my agency CollabX, which got me this campaign about a year ago,” said Abhishek.
“But just because, in this situation, two sides needed someone to blame, they started using my old reels. People who don’t even follow me started a wave saying, ‘Abhishek promotes ethanol, shame on you.’ I saw many videos against me,” he said.
‘Took Down The Reel Long Ago’, Clarifies Abhishek Malhan
He further added that influencers promote products based on the information available at the time.
“I just want to say that if I launch my own product, get it tested at 10 different places, run a campaign for it, and later find out that the product is not good, then I would stop promoting it. We influencers promoted E20 when we had the information available to us. When we realised that it had become a controversial topic, with some people supporting it and some opposing it, we had already taken down that reel long ago,” he said.
“I request everyone not to drag someone into another person’s fight. Those who are making videos and addressing this issue should know that this content is 1.5 years old and the reel was removed a long time ago. At this point, the hate coming towards me is unnecessary, and I don’t know what else to do,” he concluded.
Influencers face regulatory scrutiny for advertising violations, including undisclosed partnerships and misleading product claims. The Advertising Standards Council of India processed 1,609 influencer-related cases in 2025, with over 97 percent requiring action.
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