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The 'Louis CK Coming To India' Hoax Turned Out To Be An Anti-Censorship Protest

The 'Louis CK In India' News Was Obviously Fake, But Check Out What Just Happened
NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 28: Louis C.K. performs on stage at Comedy Central's 'Night of Too Many Stars: America Comes Together For Autism Programs' on February 28, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Andrew Toth/FilmMagic)
Andrew Toth via Getty Images
NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 28: Louis C.K. performs on stage at Comedy Central's 'Night of Too Many Stars: America Comes Together For Autism Programs' on February 28, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Andrew Toth/FilmMagic)

Acclaimed American stand-up comedian Louis CK is not coming to India. But then, if you've been active on social media for the past week, you'd already figured that out.

On March 25, a rumour started circulating online about the acclaimed comedian, creator of TV show 'Louie', doing a four-city tour in India. The details were up on louisckinindia.com.

JUST WUT!? Louis C.K. Live In India! First Tour in Asia! Dates Announced! Venues

— Chandu Ka Chacha (@AkhilSinghT) March 25, 2015

This news spread like wildfire for a few days, but very quickly, people started realising that it was most likely an April Fool's prank.

http://t.co/vlpfL6UZ8O? Louis CK in India? Can someone debunk/verify this? April 1 is only next week, it's too early for such cruel jokes.

— Raja Sen (@RajaSen) March 26, 2015

Okay looks like that Louis CK in India site might be a fake.

— Vivek Bhat (@vivekbhat) March 26, 2015

Heard that #LouisCK will be coming to India in April. Got super excited. Read posts that it is a rumor. Now dejected.

— Rahul Ojha (@RahulOjha) March 28, 2015

By the time April 1 rolled around, people seemed to have largely lost interest. But if they hadn't, they would've noticed that the website has completely changed.

The text on the static page starts off with a confirmation that the 'Louis CK India Tour' announcement was a hoax. It then goes on to talk bitingly about censorship, touching on topics such as the recent cancellation of the Jerry Seinfeld show, the outrage over the AIB Roast, and even the beef ban.

"I am that person who didn't drink for a month (yes, that is important for me) to buy his Seinfeld ticket. And travelled all the way to Bombay for nothing," goes one of the staccato statements on the page.

As per a thread on Reddit India, the prank was engineered and executed by a Chennai-based creative digital agency called The Pixelate. HuffPost India has reached out to the agency and is awaiting a comment.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.