#HBO Max pulls James Veitch comedy special after rape allegations

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James Veitch hosts the 2019 British Academy Britannia Awards in Beverly Hills, Calif.
Getty Images for BAFTA LA

HBO has pulled a comedy special from British comedian James Veitch following a slew of rape and sexual assault allegations. Veitch has also been dropped by his agency WME and is set to be edited out of a Quibi series that he was hosting.

The allegations were laid out in a long-form story, published Tuesday, from THR’s Kim Masters, who spoke to a number of alums of Sarah Lawrence University, where Veitch studied, about the attacks and incidents that allegedly occurred there during the 2000s.

Veitch’s comedy special “James Veitch: Straight To VHS” launched on HBO Max earlier this month but has subsequently been pulled by the WarnerMedia-owned streamer following these allegations.

An HBO Max spokeswoman said “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.”

In fact, it was the announcement of the special, which reportedly led a number of women who had attended Sarah Lawrence to write to HBO Max, Team Coco, which produced the special, and WME, according to the THR story.

He is also set to be edited out of “Q Talks,” a Quibi series that sees celebrities, such as Regina Hall, Lisa Kudrow, Niecy Nash, Jimmy O. Yang and Kristen Schaal, give expert talks on topics they’ve never heard before. The series has been filmed but was not set to air on the short-form service until later this year.

Veitch, who also hosts BBC Radio 4 series James Veitch’s Contractual Obligation, declined to comment to THR but a source close to him told the publication that he denies all allegations.