An Oshawa, Ont., university is suing YouTuber Fique Ayub over his viral videos filmed on campus, including one where he imitated an “exaggerated Indian accent” and asked disruptive questions during lectures before pulling out a portable burner and cooking curry during classes.
The claimant, Ontario Tech University, previously obtained an injunction barring Ayub from coming back onto its campus, but is now seeking that he be forced to give the school an undisclosed share of the revenue he made from the prank videos on campus, as well as at least $50,000 in punitive damages.
“The profits the Defendants earned arose directly from their unlawful trespass and unauthorized use of Ontario Tech’s property, and Ontario Tech seeks disgorgement of those profits,” the lawsuit reads.
Since that time, Ayub’s follower count also surged from around 60,000 subscribers to more than 1.3 million, along with millions more views on other platforms such as TikTok.
“That game was called ‘catch the curry!’” Ayub, 23, says as students laugh and others look on in confusion. He then repeats the action, splattering more curry on the ceiling.
Past Controversy
Ayub is based in Ajax, Ont., about 20 kilometres west of Oshawa.
Controversy has also arisen over some of his past YouTube videos, and Durham Regional Police said last month that Ayub and his cameraman Jaiden Mosquera, along with a 17-year-old individual, had been charged for causing a disturbance and mischief after an alleged incident in a Whitby, Ont., movie theatre in which several individuals reportedly shouted that somebody had a gun.
The allegations remain unproven in court.
Court materials filed in court in Oshawa reveal that the university hesitated about pursuing legal action over the first curry cooking prank in 2024, due to worries that it might be targeted by Ayub or suffer other forms of retaliation.
However, the college said it escalated into a police matter after Ayub allegedly came back to campus in October of last year to do more pranks, including upstaging a professor during a lecture and throwing curry.
“Fique escalated his conduct by throwing curry at students and on the ceiling of the lecture hall as part of a game that he called ‘catch the curry,’ causing damage to Ontario Tech’s property,” the claim says, adding that “tensions escalated during the Second Prank between students who wanted to learn and Fique, and a confrontation ensued which almost turned violent.”
After the second incident, the university contacted police, saying in its claim that students had been frustrated by Ayub’s interruptions and that one of the professors who was pranked by Ayub was traumatized by the events.
Ontario Superior Court Justice Susan Healey granted the injunction against Ayub in November of last year, also ordering that he pay $44,000 in legal costs and no longer enter onto the university’s campus.
“Ayub has no business being on campus; restricting his ability to trespass does not harm any of his fundamental rights. On the other hand, the ongoing reputational harm to Ontario Tech and potential interruption to its students’ and professor’s rights to attend class, free from harassment and unwanted distraction, requires that this injunction be granted,” Healey said in her granting of the injunction.
Ayub’s Defence
In a statement of defence filed with the court, Ayub denies “each and every allegation” from the university and said the YouTube account is operated by an acquaintance of his who lives in Pakistan and has not at any time been operated for profit.
“Creating content is a hobby which he does with a bona fide intention of making his viewers happy and entertaining them,” the statement reads.
“All content posted on @fiqueayub is greatly exaggerated, dramatized, heavily edited, is not a true representation of real-world events, and is meant to be satirical and/or comical.”
In addition, the defence statement says that as the campus was open to the public, Ayub had reasonable grounds to believe he was allowed there, and also that the university has “manufactured its own losses” by waiting approximately one year before filing a legal response.
For its part, Ontario Tech University has responded back to Ayub’s statement that the channel is not run for profit, referencing videos where he discusses giving his parents $10,000 and employing his cameraman full-time.
Ayub did not return a request for comment by publication time.
