Two months after the Los Angeles Times published a report in which four women accused comedian Bryan Callen of rape and sexual misconduct, Callen has decided to pursue legal action against one of the women’s husbands. Both TMZ and the L.A. Times are reporting this week that Callen is suing Gabriel Tigerman, the husband of former MADtv cast member Kathryn Fiore Tigerman, who alleged to the Times that Callen raped her in 1999. Callen’s complaint, which was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on September 23, accuses Gabriel Tigerman of an “ongoing campaign to destroy the livelihood of [Callen] through threats, harassment, and intimidation of third parties that dare contract with him.†Callen claims that “Tigerman’s apparent objective is to have Mr. Callen blacklisted, destitute, never to work again†and that the work he has lost since the allegations broke have been “nothing short of devastating to Mr. Callen personally and financially.â€
According to Callen’s complaint, Gabriel Tigerman contacted Callen’s reps at CAA after his wife’s allegations were published to ask if they still represented the comedian, arguing that continuing to work with Callen sends a “message to victims that this behavior is okay.†(Callen’s complaint notes that he was dropped by CAA and Innovative Artists in late August.) Through email and Twitter, Tigerman had also contacted multiple comedy clubs that booked Callen for upcoming dates, in an attempt to get them to reconsider, which appears to have resulted in several comedy clubs removing Callen from their schedules, which Callen’s complaint calls “a relentless campaign of economic interference.†Through his lawyer, Callen released a statement on his decision to sue Tigerman, saying, “I take my innocence, reputation and right to due process very seriously, and I will not stand by while someone tries to destroy my livelihood over something I did not do.â€
Tigerman isn’t the only person whom Callen has recently accused of trying to “destroy†his career in the wake of the allegations, which he has vehemently denied, including in the new complaint, calling them “false.†On September 23, Callen responded to a series of tweets by comedian Jen Kirkman, in which she encouraged comedy fans and male comedians to be more vocal about their disapproval of clubs that book Callen. “Hey @JenKirkman Why don’t you come on my podcast & we can actually MEET and TALK,†Callen said on Twitter. “I would love to discuss why you are so passionately invested in destroying the life of someone you don’t know based solely on hearsay. That’s a real offer.â€
Following the news of Callen’s lawsuit, Gabriel Tigerman also launched a GoFundMe campaign on September 24 to help cover legal costs.