Dauood Naimyar

Introduction

Dauood Naimyar, a Los Angeles-based stand-up comedian with Bay Area roots and a large online following, was publicly accused of rape on October 1, 2026, by a woman who says he sexually assaulted her twice more than 15 years ago, when she was a teenager and he was a young man in her social circle in the East Bay. The accusation — posted on Threads and then detailed in an on-record account to the San Francisco Chronicle — led comedy clubs in Chicago and San Diego to cancel his booked shows and prompted other club owners to announce they would not book him. Naimyar denies the allegations unequivocally, has never been charged, and no lawsuit has been filed against him.

Background Information

Naimyar, 36, grew up in the Bay Area and built a comedy career that included a summer 2026 tour across the country and a large online following. His accuser, now a 33-year-old Sacramento resident, says she met him through mutual friends around the start of her junior year of high school in 2009; he had graduated from a different high school three years earlier. She came forward on Threads on October 1, 2026, motivated — like Chelsea Bearce, who that week accused comedian Justin Richardson of assault — by the national coverage of a Cornell University student’s lawsuit against seven fraternity members. The two women do not know each other and did not coordinate. The Chronicle does not identify sexual-assault victims, and the woman asked not to be named.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Allegations. The claims in this section are allegations from the accuser’s Threads post and her on-record account to the San Francisco Chronicle, which also reviewed years-old messages. They were never admitted by Naimyar — who denies them — never criminally charged, and never adjudicated in court. His 2018 apology to the woman, which he addressed in a later statement, preceded these public rape allegations, and he says it was never an admission of them.

The woman says that in 2010, at a hotel party in Dublin, California, she stayed behind in a rented room while drunk and lying on a bed, believed she was alone, and that Naimyar pulled down her pants and had intercourse with her from behind without consent and without speaking. “It just happened so fast. I didn’t have a chance to get up and leave,” she told the Chronicle. “I think I just froze.” She says the second assault came in the spring of her senior year, March 2011, when she woke from a blackout in the passenger seat of Naimyar’s car; she says he drove to an elementary school parking lot, ignored her repeated refusals while she drifted in and out of consciousness, and assaulted her again. “He didn’t take no for an answer, and I never said yes,” she said. She also describes a 2011 encounter at his parents’ house in the San Ramon hills in which she says he cornered her in a bedroom and put his hand around her neck, and she fled. She says the experiences derailed her life — she began drinking more, used drugs, and spent two months in rehab during her senior year.

Naimyar’s account differs fundamentally. In statements on Threads and to the Chronicle, he said: “I unequivocally deny these allegations. I did not sexually assault her.” He says they were part of the same social circle, that she invited him to join her in the hotel room, that “nothing about our interaction led me to believe she was unwilling to be with me,” that she asked him to drive her home and they “spent some time together,” and that at his family’s home “we went back to my bedroom and started making out,” and when she disliked his advance, “I stopped immediately.” He also addressed a 2018 private apology — sent through another comedian after the woman warned that comedian about him, in messages the Chronicle reviewed, in which Naimyar wrote he was “a piece of shit” growing up, referenced “one night at my house where i grabbed you,” and wrote “I am so sorry.” Naimyar says the apology was for teasing her and for an abruptly ended encounter, not an admission: “My apology then did not admit the allegations she now raises, and I deny them now.” He added that he is “more than willing to cooperate fully with any investigation,” and that his family has been harmed in the fallout — his parents’ home address was exposed in a since-removed social media post, and family members have received targeted messages.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The cancellations came quickly. The Comedy Bar in Chicago wiped his October 2–3 shows, the Laugh Factory in San Diego canceled his October 23 date, and the owner of Astronaut City, a comedy club in Arcadia, announced a ban after learning of the allegation — “I believe every comedy club has the right to make its own booking decisions, and I exercise that same right,” owner Teresa Lo told the Chronicle. Other independent club owners across California announced blanket bans on booking him. In his Threads statement, Naimyar wrote it has been “deeply painful to watch these allegations spread and to see my name associated with conduct I unequivocally deny,” and that “disputed facts should be examined fairly.” To date, the woman has not gone to police and has not filed a civil suit. His accusation cycle ran alongside the unrelated claims against Justin Richardson, whose accusers cited the same Cornell case.

Current Status

No criminal charge has been filed against Naimyar, and the accuser has not filed a lawsuit; she told the Chronicle she believes he does not deserve a career in comedy. His Chicago and San Diego dates are canceled and several California clubs have stated they will not book him, though the Chronicle noted not every venue cut ties. Naimyar has publicly offered to cooperate with any investigation, and his statements indicate he is weighing how to contest the claims rather than retreating from the scene entirely.

Impact on Their Career/Life

A touring comedian with a national summer tour and a large online following behind him saw the practical infrastructure of that career — booked shows at named clubs — evaporate within days of the Threads post, with the cancellations and bans themselves becoming the story the New York Post picked up. The allegations also reached past him: his statement describes targeted messages to family members after his parents’ address was exposed online, a reminder of how these accusations travel beyond the accused. Whether police ever receive a report — the accuser has not filed one — this account now sits permanently attached to his name in the industry’s booking decisions.

Sources

• San Francisco Chronicle via Yahoo News, “Women accuse two Bay Area comedians of sexual assault: ‘I can’t keep this silent anymore’,” November 2, 2026: source
• New York Post, “Women accuse California stand-up comedians of sexual assault,” November 2, 2026: source
• SFist, “Women Speak Out About Alleged Assaults By Bay Area Comedians as Clubs Cancel Shows,” November 2, 2026: source