COMEDIAN Michael Callen and former UFC fighter Brendan Schaub are the co-hosts of the podcast “The Fighter and the Kid.”
However, in July 2020, Callen's career was turned upside down after four women accused the comedian of sexual assault.
What were the accusations against Bryan Callen?
The allegations span back to 1999 when former actress Kathryn Fiore Tigerman alleged Callen raped her, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Tigerman claimed Callen ran his hands over her body and continued despite her allegedly telling him “no.”
She alleged to be at his home above West Hollywood’s Sunset Strip when he “pushed her down on the mattress.”
A second allegation came from Rachel Green, who claimed to the LA Times she assisted the standup comic while shopping during her time working at an American Apparel store in Pittsburgh in 2009.
Green claimed he returned to the store the following day after the first visit and was groped by Callen in a dressing room.
Comedian Tiffany King alleged that Callen offered money and asked for a "blow job" in exchange for stage time while driving together in 2017.
Callen denied ever offering to “trade stage time for sex."
The fourth accuser, Claire Ganshert, claimed that she was “starstruck” meeting Bryan while working as a barista in New York City in 2012.
Claire said the two quickly started having sex, but she was kept in the dark about his wife, Amanda Humphrey, whom he’s been married to since 2008.
She also alleged that in 2016 - the year their physical relationship ended - Bryan told her that women have a “biological, primal desire to be raped.”
At the time of the allegations, Callen released a statement on Twitter and a video on Instagram denying the women's claims.
"Let me be very clear: I have never raped, forced myself upon any woman nor offered to trade stage time for sex. EVER," Callen swiftly defended himself in a statement on Twitter.
"The horrific and false allegations originated in today's LA TIMES will be addressed in detail in a special Saturday night edition of my podcast TFATK tomorrow."
What happened to Bryan Callen and Brendan Schaub?
At the time, Callen announced that he was “taking a leave of absence” from The Fighter and The Kid podcast.
In August 2020, Callen's talent representatives at the Creative Artists Agency and Innovative Artists dropped him.
At the same time, Callen said he was forced to leave his podcast The Fighter and the Kid, which he co-hosted with former UFC heavyweight Schaub because advertisers would no longer support a program he was a part of.
At the height of Callen's demise, his former podcast co-host Schaub stood by the comedian during his darkest hours.
Schaub said he “obviously stuck by” the man he called his “partner in crime.”
“Callen has asked me not to go hard in the paint for him on the show, because apparently if I say what I want to say, it’s going to get Callen in more trouble and bring more attention to Callen, so my hands are a little tied,” said Schaub during an episode of The Fighter and the Kid.
“Which is very tough for me. Very, very tough for me. Because I think you guys know how much I love Bryan, and obviously, I stick by Bryan Callen.
“I’ve never seen him like this. Bryan’s exhausted mentally and physically,” said Schaub. “I hope Bryan figures it out, and I think he will. In due time, Bryan will be back.”
Schaub said he had every intention of defending Callen on the show until Callen advised him not to.
“I was like, ‘I’m gonna be your Flavor Flav,’” Schaub recalled. “And he goes, ‘Yeah, but dude, it was 21 years ago.
"If I do that podcast, you’re gonna sit there and nod your head, you’re gonna look stupid. ... Let me handle this. This isn’t your fight. This is my thing. I’m not gonna drag you into this.’”
Schaub said he was having difficulty; however, following Callen’s request because not “shooting from the hip and saying what’s on my mind ... [is] against everything I know.”
“It’s hard for me not to release the hounds and give you my true thoughts,” he concluded.
“I can’t say anything that’s gonna satisfy anyone who wants me to give you my hot take. Anything I say, it’s only gonna hurt Bryan. That’s the last thing I want to do.”
Two months following the allegations, Callen alleged that Tigerman’s husband, actor Gabriel Tigerman, launched a blacklist campaign against him, getting CAA to drop him as a client and getting comedy venues to cancel performances.
Callen argued that Tigerman had embarked on an “ongoing campaign to destroy [the comic’s] livelihood” by reaching out via email and Twitter to comedy clubs who planned to host Callen.
Callen and Tigerman came to an out-of-court settlement in March 2021.
Tigerman’s lawyer, Alex Little, said his client “did not pay any money” to settle the case and was “extremely pleased” with the result of the “absurd and malicious lawsuit [that] was a desperate attempt to silence the brave survivors and advocates who spoke out against him.”
Most read in Celebrity
Callen was never charged or arrested for any of the allegations against him.
Read more on The Sun
The comedian is back as co-host of The Fighter and the Kid alongside Schaub, as the podcast now streams on YouTube and is produced by Chin S Yi.
In April 2021, the LA Times reported that Callen had abandoned his quest to sue Tigerman's husband.
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