Even just a few months ago, Chris D’Elia was one of the most well-known faces in comedy. He was one of the highest-earning stand-up comics, his live shows would almost always sell out, and he has had three critically acclaimed Netflix specials. He has also played the main lead in comedies like Whitney and Undateable and had stints on shows like You and Huge in France. He also maintains a huge social media following.
But the comedian found himself in hot water earlier this year when he was accused of sexual misconduct by several different women. Though the comedian has vehemently denied any wrongdoing, he has since lost a few projects and has not released any new content in the last five months.
He Regrets Marrying Too Young
D’Elia was married to actor Emily Montague for four years and the couple divorced in 2010. The comedian opened up about his marriage in his Netflix comedy special Man on Fire and confessed that getting married at 26 was a mistake. During the show, he also shared the moment when he realized that his marriage was not meant to last:
“Here’s how I knew I didn’t wanna be married. This kept happening. Didn’t realize then, but I realize now, all right? It’s very symbolic. You know when you live with someone and walk into a room and they’re in the room and it ends up scaring the shit out of you, right? Though it’s the one thing that should be in that room, ’cause it’s their room, too, you’re not thinking, you’re doing something else. That kept happening, okay?”
The Recent Misconduct Allegations Against Him
In June of this year, D'Elia was accused of sexual harassment and solicitation of nude images by several women who were underage at the time. Though D’Elia denied the allegations and said that he never "knowingly pursued any underage women at any point," he was removed from the 2011 Workaholics episode "To Friend a Predator," which featured the comedian as a child molester.
Penn Badgley, D’Elia’s You co-star, also weighed in on the allegations and revealed how unsettling D’Elia’s attachment to the show was considering the drama also explored the many forms of behavioral misconduct. “The idea that a show like ours would indirectly, unwittingly be a haven for people who are abusive is disturbing,” Badgley said.
His Net Worth
D’Elia’s current net worth currently stands at around $13 million. But following the accusations of sexual misconduct against him, the comedian’s net worth started to drop. He was dropped from his agency, as well as his management company.
The accusations against D’Elia also led Hulu, Amazon Prime, and Comedy Central to pull some of his content and his prank-based Netflix show with fellow comedian Bryan Callen has reportedly also been scrapped.
His Family Has Ties To Showbiz
D’Elia has grown up observing the showbiz industry, especially since his dad is a pretty big deal in television. His father is the director and producer Bill D’Elia, who has directed several episodes of shows like Glee, Chicago Hope, Ally McBeal, The Practice, Boston Legal, and The West Wing.
He also co-created the legal drama Judging Amy. He is currently an executive producer and a director for the ABC mystery drama Grand Hotel. The comedian’s younger brother Matt is also an actor and director, and his mother Ellie is an interior decorator.
He Has Been On A Twitter Hiatus
D’Elia has always been hugely active on Twitter and would often tweet multiple times a day, but he has been totally silent on Twitter and on Instagram since June, specifically after the allegations against him surfaced.
D’Elia has a following of one million on Twitter and 2.2 million on Instagram. The comedian’s Instagram videos were also quite popular and he would often put out candid videos or behind-the-scenes footage from his shows. He also has a website that hasn’t had any new content lately.
He Had Admitted To Having A Great Childhood
D’Elia has often opened up about his childhood and how great his parents were. In his comedy specials, he has talked about how his parents were always there for him when he needed them and even joked that he could use some trauma in his life, which would make him a better comedian. In an interview with Decider, he also talked about how it impacted his creative process.
“I had a good childhood. Coming up as a comedian, I would feel insecure that I didn’t have that story, that I just had parents that were together, and how they’re still together. And I was like, 'Well, what do I talk about?', and I would start laughing on stage. That’s something I do [that] people talk about, and I would try to not laugh onstage, because I thought that wasn’t the right thing to do.”
He Was, At One Point, Justin Bieber’s Favorite Comedian
Chris D’Elia was one of the roasters at Justin Bieber’s famous 2015 roast, however, he and the musician are also friends. The comedian told Conan O'Brien that he first met Bieber when the singer attended one of his stand-up shows and loved his set.
D’Elia also revealed that the singer tweeted about the comedian the next day. In fact, he also poked fun at how he got some threats from Selena Gomez fans before his Justin Bieber roast to go easy on Selena when making fun of Justin.
He Hasn’t Released A New Podcast In Five Months
D’Elia’s Congratulations podcast was a huge hit and was recorded in L.A. The comedian would post a new episode every Monday, but he hasn’t released a new episode since June 4. His podcasts were usually an hour long and though he would usually stick to relatable subjects, he often curated a mixed bag of things to talk about.
For the 139th episode, for instance, he discussed how everyone fancies themselves to be Travis Bickle, Robert DeNiro's character in Taxi Driver. He also talked about Instagram personality Caroline Calloway, Flume, and Michael Lenoci eating burgers in Amsterdam, among other topics.
His Friend Whitney Cummings Publicly Commented On His Scandal
Whitney and Chris have starred together in the comedy Whitney, which was canceled after two seasons. Whitney has also guest-starred in D’Elias show, Undateable. And though they were good friends, Cummings expressed shock when she found out about the allegations about D’Elia. She tweeted:
“It’s taken me a couple days to process the information I have learned about Chris. I’m devastated and enraged by what I’ve read and learned. This is a pattern of predatory behavior. This abuse of power is enabled by silence. Now that I’m aware, I won’t be silent. Girls should be able to be a fan of a comedian they admire without being a sexual target. It’s the adult’s responsibility to be an adult.”
He Had Quite A Few Projects Planned
A few months ago, D’Elia had opened up about how he would handle things post quarantine and he was scheduling quite a few projects, although some of them may be on hold now, considering the recent allegations against him. He shared in the same interview mentioned above:
“I can’t imagine I won’t want to jump on stage as soon as this quarantine thing is lifted. I had, like, 25 minutes of new material before this lockdown thing started happening. I’m setting dates, I don’t want to say who yet because it’s not out, but I’m going to do a tour with another comedian and it’s going to be a really big one, in the fall. And so, I’m going to do that. I have a movie coming out at the end of the year and then I have some other TV shows that I’m working on developing. I don’t know how many specials or whatever you want to call them, hours of stand-up I want to have out there in my life.”