Comedy Club Gets Death Threats After Comic Celebrated Kobe Bryant's Death

The New York Comedy Club has had to cancel a number of shows after a wave of threatening phone calls concerning comedian Ari Shaffir, who joked about late NBA star Kobe Bryant, killed alongside 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven other victims in a helicopter crash Sunday. As reported by TMZ, Shaffir was initially scheduled to perform at the comedy club Tuesday, but multiple threats prompted the cancellation of his time on stage.

Shaffir was reportedly not mentioned by name in the threatening phone calls, at least one of which involved a caller threatening to shoot up the club, but law enforcement sources told TMZ that Shaffir's statements regarding Bryant just hours after he died had stirred up a lot of anger online. The case is still under investigation.

Shaffir shared a video on Twitter not long after news that Bryant had been killed in a crash outside of Los Angeles, saying, "Kobe Bryant died 23 years too late today. He got away with rape because all the Hollywood liberals who attack comedy enjoy rooting for the Lakers more than they dislike rape. Big ups to the hero who forgot to gas up his chopper. I hate the Lakers. What a great day!"

After reportedly being dropped by his talent agency and deleting the video, Shaffir took to Instagram with an apology, saying it was simply a "dark comedy" bit he does when any celebrity dies, and that he had posted it before learning that children were aboard the helicopter.

"Every time a beloved celebrity dies I post some horrible s— about them," he wrote. "I've been doing it for years now. I like destroying gods. And right when a famous person dies they're at their most worshipped. So as a response to all the outpouring of sympathy on social media, I post something vile. it's just a joke. I don't really hate any of the people."

"Kids dying like that, it's horrible," he added. "All the other people dying, that [sic] horrible too. It's horrible he died. Really really sad. What a terrible thing that was that happened."

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