Ashley Gavin is facing backlash after a former fan alleged the comedian told her to “kill herself” during a stand-up performance in Indianapolis.
Ashley is a 36-year-old New York-based comedian who rose to fame on TikTok for her viral crowd work. Throughout her performances, Ashley often encourages the crowd to get loud and frequently tells the audience not to “pull back” on their laughter when she makes uncomfortable jokes.
She also hosts the popular podcast We’re Having Gay Sex as well as the Chosen Family podcast with Makaela Ingemi and Alayna Joy.
On June 21st, a woman named Olivia Neely took to TikTok to share her experience at Ashley’s recent Indianapolis show where she paid for VIP meet-and-greet tickets.
Olivia claims that during the set, Ashley looked her “dead in the eyes” and said “that I am the most annoying fan who has ever been to one of her shows.” Ashley then told Olivia, who already struggles with mental health, to kill herself.
“I awkwardly shouted ‘I’ve already tried,’ reflecting on my past attempt and struggle with suicidal thoughts,” Olivia claims in the accompanying Reddit post. “She then tells me I didn’t try hard enough and continues to tell me to kill myself over and over and over again. I started having a pit in my stomach and I was in pure shock. I’ve never had someone I [idolised] or anyone in general be so cruel.”
Though her video went viral, several fans were skeptical to believe Olivia’s story without proof.
Now, the audio from Ashley’s Indianapolis show has been leaked, where she can be heard yelling at a crowd member, presumably Olivia, and telling her to kill herself multiple times.
“Two years ago, I had an abortion,” Ashley says in the recording. Olivia apparently reacted in surprise to the sensitive topic and Ashley noticed.
“No, kill yourself,” Ashley says to Olivia.
Olivia shouts in response, “I tried!” and Ashley yells, “Shut the fuck up. That was the most virtue-signaling piece of dog shit I’ve ever seen in my entire life. […] You’re an annoying person. Try harder to kill yourself […] You just interrupted the tension that I was building into the joke. Your mother should’ve aborted you.”
Ashley has since taken to TikTok to apologise (with comments turned off), saying she let her “emotions get the best of [her]” during the set.
“I way, way over-reacted to an audience member’s interaction. I have been a comedian for almost 10 years. I know that I could have done better. I should have done better. And I want to be super clear about this. I took it way too far and I am so, so sorry,” she says.
“I way, way over-reacted to an audience member’s interaction. I have been a comedian for almost 10 years. I know that I could have done better. I should have done better. And I want to be super clear about this. I took it way too far and I am so, so sorry.”
Many are unhappy with the delay in her apology, considering Olivia first brought this to light in late June.
Amid this situation, several former fans of Ashley’s and other members of the LGBTQ+ community are speaking out against the comedian and her use of crowd work, including @bat_taz who called suggested Ashley is “not really a comedian, she just badgers people on stage.”
“This is not the first time Ashley Gavin has come for her crowd. She makes them uncomfortable to talk about their sexuality. She outs people outwardly on her shows. And she continues to harass and bully her crowd. Trust me, we all know what crowd work is. But what she is doing is now crowd work,” Taz says.
She goes on to note that Ashley’s podcast co-host Makaela Ingemi is “extremely problematic as well.”
“That entire podcast only highlights what white lesbians are trying to do. Which is continue to perpetuate heteronormative beliefs and continue to talk about women in a derogatory way,” she says before clarifying that this doesn’t apply to “all white lesbians,” but many of them.
Taz mentioned Makaela because she recently made a video insisting that Ashley has taken accountability. It seems Makaela’s video was deleted shortly after being posted.
Despite the disappointment in Ashley’s apology, she has resumed posting her regular comedy content and said she will be returning to her podcast in a few weeks.