HBO Max pulls James Veitch comedy amid rape allegations

British comic denies any wrongdoing

James Veitch in 2019 (Rex Features)

HBO has removed a comedy special by British comedian James Veitch from its streaming platform, following a series of rape allegations against the rising star.

As well as the show – titled James Veitch: Straight To VHS – being pulled, the comic was dropped by his agency WME after two of his alleged victims wrote letters to the company. According to a source who spoke to The Hollywood Reporter, he will be edited out of the Quibi series Q Talks that he was hosting. The show features celebrity guests such as Regina Hall and Lisa Kudrow.

An HBO Max spokeswoman said: “We were deeply disturbed to learn of these allegations of unacceptable behaviour by James Veitch and will be removing the special from our platform for now.”

More than a dozen accusations of rape and sexual assault were made against Veitch in a report published by The Hollywood Reporter on Tuesday (1 September), by women who met the comedian at New York’s Sarah Lawrence University in the 2000s.

The Independent has contacted Veitch for comment. A source close to him told The Hollywood Reporter that he denies all allegations.

Veitch at the British Academy Britannia Awards in Los Angeles in October 2019 (Rex)

Veitch’s 2016 TED talk about dealing with spam emails was viewed nearly 62 million times and was turned into a book, which came out in June. He has appeared on 8 Out of 10 Cats in the UK.