Chris D'Elia's Hollywood gig was canceled due to scheduling conflict, booker says
Chris D'Elia's upcoming gig at the Improv in Hollywood has been canceled because of a scheduling conflict, according to the booker at the legendary Melrose Avenue comedy club.
"Chris had a scheduling conflict," booker Erin von Schonfeldt told The Times on Thursday, not long after Rolling Stone reported that the gig had been "quietly canceled after new sexual misconduct allegations."
D'Elia had been scheduled to perform next Wednesday at the club, which is advertising performances by Fortune Feimster, Matt Rife, Sherry Cola, Ashley Hesseltine, Charles Greaves and Matty Chymbor in its 8 p.m. slot that night. There is no mention of who might perform later that evening.
D'Elia has two shows set for the Balboa Theatre in San Diego this weekend, then hits the Brea Improv — which Von Schonfeldt also books — Jan. 13-15 for five shows that the club's website notes are "almost sold out." His tour takes him from there to gigs across the country, which he has booked into May.
After accusations of D'Elia's inappropriate behavior surfaced on social media in 2020, five women shared their allegations of sexual misconduct with The Times that June.
After eight months out of the spotlight, he owned up to his misconduct in February 2021, saying in a video, "Sex, it controlled my life. It was my focus all the time, and I had a problem. And I do have a problem. It’s not like months down the line everything’s better. I need to do work on that.”
There had been online speculation that this week's cancellation was linked to the recent release of a new YouTube documentary that levels further allegations of misconduct against the comic.
A federal child-porn and sexual-exploitation lawsuit was filed against him in the Central District of California in March 2021 by a "Jane Doe" who claimed the comic solicited nude photos from her and had sex with her when she was 17. However, the woman withdrew her case less than two months later. It was dismissed without prejudice in late April 2021.
In June 2022, D'Elia married longtime girlfriend Kristin Taylor, then in late September he was hit with a temporary restraining order by a woman he said he never met.
In his response to the temporary order, D'Elia said the woman, Caroline Schmitz, had been harassing him online since 2019. He denied any of the conduct that was alleged. Schmitz didn't show up at an Oct. 19 hearing on whether to make the restraining order permanent, and the order was dissolved.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
