Andrew Callaghan lost one of his biggest supporters on Thursday when comedian Tim Heidecker kicked off his Office Hours podcast by telling fans that he has “no plans” to continue working with the documentarian following multiple allegations of sexual misconduct.
An uncharacteristically sincere Heidecker began by somberly apologizing for not speaking out about the story sooner as it has bubbled up on TikTok and other social media platforms in recent days. Along with his frequent comedy partner Eric Wareheim, Heidecker served as a producer on Callaghan’s documentary This Place Rules, which examines the events that led up to the Jan. 6 insurrection and premiered on HBO less than two weeks ago. Other producers of the film include Jonah Hill and A24.
“It’s been a very painful week for us, a very difficult experience to process,” Heidecker said in his YouTube live stream. “We didn’t want to just rush out and say something that felt insincere or a ‘crisis person told us what to say’ kind of thing. I don’t think that’s helpful.”
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“And we just wanted to wrap our heads around it and talk about it and try to understand it more,” he continued. “But of course, we’re aware of the allegations. We take them very seriously. And it’s just been very sad and just disappointing, to say the least. I just want to clarify a couple things. We have no professional relationship with Andrew at this time and have no plans going forward to have any relationship with him.”
Since the movie’s release, two separate women have come out with stories about Callaghan—who became a popular YouTube star with his shows “All Gas No Breaks” and “Channel 5”—saying he pressured them into having sex against their will. Callaghan has since gone silent on social media and has not addressed the allegations directly.
However, a legal representative for Callagham did tell TMZ on Thursday, “Andrew is devastated that he is being accused of any type of physical or mental coercion against anyone. Conversations about pressure and consent are extremely important and Andrew wants to have these conversations, so he can continue to learn and grow.”
The lawyer proceeded to accuse one of Callaghan’s accusers of asking him for money to keep her story quiet. “While every dynamic is open to interpretation and proper communication is critical from all those involved,” the statement continued, “repeated requests for money should not be part of these conversations.”
In his remarks, Heidecker went on to say that he feels “terrible that this film now has these allegations tied to it, because some very good people worked very hard on it.”
“But it’s just a movie, and I want to say we believe these women that came forward and, of course, totally condemn the type of behavior that Andrew’s being accused of,” he said. “I believe it’s up to Andrew to address these allegations and do so openly and honestly. And I really hope he does do that as soon as possible.”
For more, listen to Tim Heidecker on The Last Laugh podcast.
