Two women have come forward with sexual assault allegations against Bay Area comedians Jay Rich and Dauood Naimyar, prompting several comedy clubs to cancel their shows, though Rich remains booked for an upcoming Oakland performance.
Oakland comedian Jay Rich, whose legal name is Justin Richardson, and Los Angeles comedian Dauood Naimyar, who grew up in the Bay Area, are facing separate sexual assault allegations from two women, as the Chronicle reports.
Both women were prompted to share their stories on Threads last month amid the flood of “I am Jane Doe” posts stemming from the Cornell rape case.
Chelsea Bearce, a 45-year-old local comedian, said Richardson sexually assaulted her in March 2018 after inviting her to meet him and another comedian at an Oakland bar.
She told the Chronicle she had less than one vodka tonic but subsequently experienced blackouts, memory gaps, and loss of muscle control, leading her to believe she may have been drugged.
Bearce said she remembers only fragments of what happened next, including Richardson guiding her into his car and telling her that he and his wife had an understanding about "stuff like this." She said she suddenly realized she was performing oral sex on him while he held the back of her head down. She recalled saying no and trying to push him away but being unable to move her arms.
The second woman, a 33-year-old Sacramento resident who did not want to be identified, told the Chronicle Naimyar raped her twice when she was 17 and attending California High School in San Ramon. She said the first assault happened at a hotel party in Dublin in 2010, when other partygoers left to get food and she remained behind, intoxicated. She said Naimyar approached her while she was lying on a bed and had sex with her without consent.
The woman said she began drinking more and using drugs afterward, eventually spending two months in rehabilitation during her senior year. She said a second assault happened in March 2011 after a party in San Ramon. She blacked out and later regained consciousness in Naimyar's car. When she asked him to take her home, she said he instead drove to an elementary school parking lot and had sex with her despite her repeatedly saying no.
She also described a subsequent encounter at Naimyar's parents' home, where she said he cornered her in a bedroom and put his hand around her neck. She escaped by telling him she needed to use the bathroom and running out of the house.
“I was 17, he was 20. And I thought he was a friend I could trust,” the woman wrote on Threads. “He hunted me. Twice. His name is Dauood Naimyar. He is an aspiring stand-up comedian getting to do shows around the country. I am Jane Doe.”
Richardson and Naimyar have denied the allegations. Richardson said he and Bearce remained friendly and supported each other's comedy careers in the years afterward. However, messages provided by Bearce to the Chronicle show that shortly after the alleged assault, she told him she was embarrassed by "how far things went" and didn't understand how she had become so intoxicated. Three comedians also told the Chronicle that Bearce had previously shared her account with them.
Naimyar said his encounters with the Sacramento woman were consensual. However, in a 2018 message relayed to the paper through another comedian, he acknowledged treating her badly when they were younger, apologized for an incident at his parents' home, and said he would support her if she wanted to tell others. He later said the apology was not an admission to the sexual assault allegations, and he is willing to cooperate with any investigation.
According to the Chronicle, the allegations have resulted in canceled performances and lost bookings for both comedians. The Comedy Underground, which hosts the San Francisco Stand-Up Comedy Competition, announced October 3 that it had stopped promoting, featuring, and booking the performers. Richardson had won the competition just four days earlier, receiving $7,500, but was subsequently removed from the organization's website.
Manteca's Deaf Puppy Club also canceled the second night of a two-day show Richardson was headlining.
Richardson nevertheless performed at Tommy T's Comedy Club in Pleasanton on October 22, and he remains scheduled to appear at Oakland's Paramount Theatre in November as of Monday afternoon, per the Chronicle.
Naimyar's scheduled performances at The Comedy Bar in Chicago and the Laugh Factory in San Diego were also canceled.
Neither woman reported the alleged assaults to police at the time. The Sacramento woman told the Chronicle she is now nearly 18 months sober and recently started a new job.
Bearce said she plans to file a report with the Oakland Police Department.
“I’m tired of pretending this didn’t happen to me!” Bearce wrote on Threads last month. “I’m tired of remaining quiet in green rooms! And I’m sharing this so that when other women get tired of this bullshit, they’ll say something too. You are not alone, sis. Stand up!”
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