HBO Max has pulled a James Veitch comedy special following several rape and sexual assault allegations against the star.
The special featuring the 40-year-old comedian titled, “James Veitch: Straight To VHS” first launched on the streaming site last month, but has since been taken off the site, per Deadline in a piece published Tuesday. (RELATED: Watch The New Trailer For The HBO Comedy Series ‘The Righteous Gemstones’ With Danny McBride)
James Veitch, a rising star with a book deal and a viral TED talk, is being accused of sexual assault by multiple former peers who reconnected after learning about his HBO Max special https://t.co/0fRDljiQDp pic.twitter.com/nAhKafxlrF
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) September 1, 2020
“We were deeply disturbed to learn of these allegations of unacceptable behavior by James Veitch and will be removing the special from our platform for now,” a spokesperson for the Warner-Media owned streamer shared.
Veitch has also been dropped by his agency WME and will reportedly be edited out of the Quibi series, “Q Talks,” in which he was hosting, per the outlet.
It all comes following a report by Hollywood Reporter Kim Masters who reportedly spoke to alums of Sarah Lawrence University, where Veitch attended, about the allegations against the British comedian stemming from alleged attacks that happened there in the 2000s.
The sexual misconduct allegations started surfacing after news broke about Veitch’s upcoming comedy special. Meghan Klien, a post production supervisor, shared with the outlet how she recalled hearing stories about him that made her “skin crawl.”
So she texted her former classmate Jael Simonson-Tunick about the alleged reputation she had heard about the comedian who said, “I immediately felt a pang of rage and shock. Something in me snapped.”
Simonson-Tunick then created a Facebook page where alums of the university could talk about their alleged experiences with Veitch.
“Our little network started bringing in stories left and right,” Jael shared. “In just that first couple of days, I think I got three stories of rape and two of assault. What kept me going was my connection to these women — every woman that I talked to that first day I knew personally.”
The members of the Sarah Lawerence group admitted none of them ever reported the alleged sexual misconduct to the college.
Veitch has yet to comment on the allegations, but a source close to the comedian told the outlet that he denies the allegations.