Comedian sues Pauly Shore and his club the Comedy Store for alleged assault
Pauly Shore and his club the Comedy Store are being sued by a comedian who claims he was assaulted by the club’s security in December.
Plaintiff Eliot Preschutti filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court on Thursday.
According to legal documents reviewed by The Times, the alleged incident occurred around midnight on Dec. 15, 2023, when Preschutti says he forgot to close out his bar tab before leaving the club.
The comedian has kept a lower profile in recent years but remained active as a writer, director, producer and, now, as a podcaster on a rollicking show with Jam in the Van.
As he was walking away from the West Hollywood venue, Preschutti heard several employees yelling at him.
Two bouncers who had yelled at him then “ran up, grabbed Plaintiff and detained him,” legal documents read. Two more then arrived outside, along with a waitress who told him she still had his debit card.
As Preschutti settled his tab — his second of the night since he had closed the first earlier that evening — one of the bouncers yelled, “He tried to hit her!”
One of the bouncers still restraining Preschutti then allegedly threw him face-down onto the sidewalk and five to seven Comedy Store bouncers kicked, hit and yelled at him for “an appreciable period of time,” according to the legal documents. Preschutti soiled himself during the beating, which was filmed in part and posted online.
“At times, their acts became so violent that other bouncers attempted to restrain them, lest they kill Plaintiff,” the lawsuit says.
Preschutti also claims that the bouncer who threw him to the ground shouted, “This is for Pauly!”
In the lawsuit, Preschutti says that his association with the Comedy Store dates back to 1999 and that he had past dealings with Shore and his mother, Mitzi.
Neither Shore nor the Comedy Store’s general manager immediately replied to The Times’ request for comment.
A Richard Simmons biopic starring Pauly Shore is on the way. But the fitness guru was quick to disavow the film: ‘I have never given my permission for this movie.’
Sheriff‘s deputies responded at the scene, detaining Preschutti until around 8:30 a.m. When the comedian arrived home, he slept for approximately 24 hours, then checked himself into the nearby Cedars-Sinai hospital to obtain medical attention on Dec. 17, 2023, the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit states that Preschutti, who is suing for assault, battery, negligence, premises liability, negligent hiring, aiding and abetting tort and intentional infliction of emotional distress, “suffered severe physical and emotional damages as a result of the beating.”
He is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages and coverage of legal fees and has requested a jury trial.
Preschutti’s suit is the second of its kind launched at the Comedy Store this year.
The first, which is cited in Preschutti’s lawsuit, was filed in January by clubgoers Sean Kehoe and his daughter Kirra Lyn Potts, who allege Kehoe was “violently grabbed and attacked” by bouncers during a Nov. 20, 2022, visit to the club.
Kehoe claims Shore was both aware of the allegedly planned assault and that he “agreed with and encouraged” the bouncers.
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