Eternal chief Deepinder Goyal is not new to controversies. From advertising Zomato on sites that show adult content to tweeting about a customer refusing to take a delivery from a non-Hindu rider, his tryst with virality has long been known and documented.
However, the last couple of months have taken things a notch higher for Goyal.
It all started when he shared some information about what they were building at his new venture, Continue.
Defying gravity, literally
In a document outlining Continue’s ‘Gravity Aging Hypothesis’, Goyal shared how gravity is a primary driver of aging because it reduces blood flow to the brain.What followed was several people such as Fittr CEO Jitendra Chouksey accusing Goyal of ‘cooking up’ a scientific theory specifically to sell a gadget that measures a metric that hasn’t been validated as a consumer health KPI.
While the Eternal chief did not directly allude to the gadget, ‘Temple’, in his hypothesis post, he announced it in a LinkedIn post soon after.
Since then, several experts across domains have spoken against the shortcomings of such a hypothesis and how Goyal has now joined a bandwagon of other billionaires looking to reverse or stop aging.
The said billionaires’ list includes Bryan Johnson, known for his eccentric lifestyle, diet and relentless push for anti-aging. He founded the company Kernel, which claims to provide the “only technology for accessible and evidence-based measurements of the brain”.
Blinkit and the quick delivery conundrum
As if December hadn’t already thrown enough controversy into the life of Goyal, another storm was kicked up by Indian politician Raghav Chadha when he raised the issue of 10-minute deliveries creating a dangerous ecosystem for riders.
Chadha received support from several sections of the society who agreed that quick commerce companies are exploiting gig workers with their pay structure, lack of support and forcing them to complete deliveries within restrictive deadlines.
In fact, a nationwide strike was called as well for these gig workers on December 31 but it fell flat as all major players including Blinkit, Swiggy’s Instamart, Zepto and BigBasket offered higher and more lucrative incentives on the day.
“If a system were fundamentally unfair, it would not consistently attract and retain so many people who choose to work within it. Please don’t get swept up by narratives pushed by vested interests,” Goyal wrote in a LinkedIn post.
The Raj Shamani podcast appearance
On Sunday, Raj Shamani released his latest episode featuring Goyal, which caused further noise on social media.
In the podcast, Goyal added to the furore by once again pitching his anti gravity hypothesis, saying that they terminate 5,000 delivery partners monthly for fraud, and that every month, 1.5-2 lakh partners quit of their own accord.
There have since been users on social media which claim that the appearance was likely a paid one, aimed at diverting attention away from recent controversies surrounding him.
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