A day after the Income Tax (IT) searches on her premises, Malayalam actor and YouTuber Pearly Maaney wrote on Instagram that “all was well” She was one of the several YouTubers whose offices were searched by the Income Tax Department on June 22. The surprise searches were conducted on the premises of at least nine YouTubers on Thursday.
"All is Well. All is Well. Thank You for always Believing in Me and Trusting Me. Peace Love and Music to All (sic)," Pearly posted early on June 23 for her many followers on Instagram. She has 3.7 million followers on Instagram and 2.6 million on YouTube.
Pearly, who began as an anchor of live shows and television programmes, went on to become an actor in the last decade. She hosted three seasons of the reality show D 4 Dance. She began acting with a minor role as a biker in Dulquer Salmaan’s Neelakasham Pachakadal Chuvanna Bhoomi and played noticeable roles in movies like The Last Supper, Double Barrel, Pretham, Njan and Jo and the Boy.
Five years ago, she became popular as a participant in the Big Boss Malayalam show hosted by Mohanlal, in which several celebrities, small and big, are put inside a house without outside contact and videographed for several days. Pearly emerged as a runner-up that year and got married to another participant in the show, Srinish.
Her online content contains snippets from her personal life, including cute videos of her baby, motivational content, and so on.
The Income Tax Department has on its radar YouTubers who make more than Rs 1 crore a year, in addition to what they earn through paid promotional content. After the raids on Thursday, the Department took the statements of the YouTubers and checked their bank accounts and financial documents.