Chris Hardwick has lost another gig, as the Southern California music/comedy festival KAABOO Del Mar announced on Sunday that it has removed the comedian, podcaster and TV host from its lineup.
Hardwick promoted his appearance at the festival on Twitter this past Wednesday. But two days later, actress Chloe Dykstra published a blog post accusing Hardwick, whom she did not mention by name, of emotional and sexual abuse during their three-year relationship.
Dykstra also said Hardwick later used his influence to prevent her from getting acting jobs after they broke up. Hardwick denied that he sexually assaulted her in a statement released Friday night, but did not address the accusation of career sabotage.
“KAABOO is an experience dedicated to providing a safe community and fostering an inclusive environment for all of our guests, performing artists and comedians, chefs, visual artists and team members,” the festival said in a statement released Saturday.
“KAABOO does not condone, and will not tolerate, any type of abusive behavior or harassment. A replacement act for Hardwick will be announced shortly.”
The KAABOO festival runs Sep 14 – Sep 16 in Del Mar, CA, north of San Diego.
Hardwick is also currently booked to perform two Seattle standup shows in October. The Seattle Theatre Group, which organized the event, did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
In the hours after Dykstra’s post was published, Nerdist Industries, the podcast-based digital media empire launched by Hardwick and sold to Legendary Entertainment in 2012, was quick to distance itself from its creator. Hardwick’s name was scrubbed from the website, and in a statement Legendary said he had not had any operational involvement with Nerdest for more than two years.
AMC, which has aired several Hardwick-hosted aftershows for hit series like “Breaking Bad” and “The Walking Dead,” announced on Saturday that his latest, “Talking With Chris Hardwick,” had been pulled from its schedule one day before the second season premiere was set to air, with guest Donald Glover. It’s unclear when, or if, the new season’s episodes might air.
Hardwick has also stepped down as moderator on Hall H panels for AMC’s “The Walking Dead” and BBC America’s “Doctor Who” at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con Hall H.
Meanwhile NBC, which airs the Hardwick-hosted game show “The Wall,” says it is “continuing to assess the situation and will take appropriate action based on the outcome.” The upcoming season of “The Wall” isn’t scheduled to begin production until September.