The internet has been ablaze with discussion about Akaash Singh‘s marriage. Even Adam22—the podcaster who’s navigated some of the most unconventional relationship territory in the public eye—expressed concern.
In a recent episode of One Night with Steiny, Adam22 offered his perspective on the controversy surrounding the Flagrant co-host and his wife, providing insights that only someone with his unique experience could deliver.
Adam22’s initial reaction to clips of Akaash and his wife was one of horror. “I saw a lot of things that really to me seemed incredibly disrespective,” he admitted. However, after watching the couple together on Flagrant’s recent episode addressing the controversy, his perspective evolved.
Rather than viewing Akaash’s wife as the villain many online commentators have painted her to be, Adam22 sees something more nuanced: a woman caught between cultural repression and modern social media communication styles.
The podcaster drew an interesting comparison to influencer Tana Mongeau’s communication style, suggesting that younger women raised on TikTok tend to exaggerate everything for effect. “There’s like a style of communication of just sort of making everything so over the top,” he explained. This cultural context, he believes, is crucial to understanding why Akaash’s wife’s comments about having a “roster” or “popping” at frat parties have been so misconstrued by internet critics.
What struck Adam22 most about the Flagrant episode was how visibly worn down Akaash appeared. “You could tell by just looking at Akaash that he’s being worn down by the internet hate,” he observed.
Adam22 actually praised Andrew Schulz and the Flagrant team for their handling of the situation. “They all came out and like they’re going so hard to try to keep the energy up on that episode to sort of offset their small Indian friend who clearly is not really feeling it,” he noted.
From his perspective, Schulz and company did exactly what good friends should do—they surrounded their struggling friend with support and humor, constantly interrupting to crack jokes and lighten the mood.
However, Adam22 also identified a concerning dynamic. Despite the support from the Flagrant team, Akaash’s wife still said things that “didn’t necessarily come off as positive enough for him given that this whole experience has been like very very positive for her and very very negative for him.” The revelation that she doesn’t actually clean the house herself but pays someone to do it, for instance, seemed to genuinely disappoint Akaash on camera.
The comparison between Adam22’s situation and Akaash’s is telling. When discussing his own controversial relationship dynamic with wife Lena the Plug, Adam22 emphasized that their open arrangement works because they’ve been together almost ten years and have built a foundation of trust. “The reason why we’re able to do that is because we’ve been together for almost 10 years. We have a level of trust,” he explained. In contrast, Akaash and his wife are “on the absolute polar opposite end of the spectrum” as each other’s only sexual partners, navigating public scrutiny without that established foundation.
What troubles Adam22 most isn’t necessarily what’s been said, but what hasn’t been expressed. “It kind of felt like she was having a hard time demonstrating” empathy for Akaash publicly, even in a situation where he desperately needed it. This lack of glowing, adoring support in the face of overwhelming internet criticism raised doubts for Adam22 about the strength of their bond.
The internet’s reaction has been predictably brutal, with content creators like Poetic Flakko, Jamari, and Myron from Fresh and Fit locking in to create video after video dissecting the relationship. Adam22 understands this dynamic all too well: “There’s a very concerted effort to like paint people as villains on the internet so that they can look bad so that they can have a new person to make videos about.”
When asked whether the couple will survive, Adam22 gave a measured response: “I think they’ll be able to make it work long term, but I think that she needs to do a little bit of soul-searching in order to like figure out how to make her man look better and celebrate him a little bit more.” He noted that their cultural background likely discourages divorce, which may work in their favor.
The controversy highlights a broader issue about public relationships in the social media age. Adam22 pointed out that when you put your relationship on the internet, especially when one partner has a podcast, “you better be prepared for all of that.” The clip culture of today means every statement will be dissected, taken out of context, and potentially used against you.
Perhaps most poignantly, Adam22 contrasted his own situation with Akaash’s financial outcome. When his relationship went viral, it resulted in “a insane amount of money” for his wife and, by extension, their household. For Akaash, however, “he got humiliated. What did this girl benefit from it? Nothing. She just made a bunch of TikTok” followers and “got famous for being a horrible wife.”
The situation remains unresolved, with Flagrant even promoting betting odds through Kalshi on whether the couple will divorce before 2027. Adam22 found this promotional angle troubling but noted that if Akaash was comfortable with it, then it is what it is. For his part, Adam22 is confident enough in the couple’s future that he bet $1,000 they’ll last until 2028.