Pauly Shore Sued Again For Violent Assault At The Comedy Store

Comedian and actor Pauly Shore is being sued over an incident that occurred at his venue, the famed Comedy Store in Los Angeles. Attorneys for plaintiff Eliot Preschutti filed documents in the Los Angeles Superior Court over an incident that occurred on Dec. 15, 2023 at the Comedy Store.

According to legal documents obtained by The Blast, the lawsuit alleges that on the night in question, Preschutti was violently beaten by multiple bouncers at the comedy club. The lawsuit also states that several bouncers were heard yelling, “This is for Pauly!” during the brutal attack. The complaint alleges damages including battery, assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence, premises liability, negligent hiring, training, supervision and/or retention of unfit employees, and aiding and abetting.

The lawsuit states: “All Defendants were co-conspirators in this matter, whom conspired with each other, and formed a mutual agreement or understanding that they would work in concert, with each other, knowingly intending to assault, batter, stomp and brutally beat and kick Plaintiff, intending to cause him great bodily harm.”

In the documents, Preschutti is described as having “worked in comedy and entertainment business since 1995, and has been both a comedic performer and a teacher over the years.” He had first worked with The Comedy Store, Pauly Shore, and his mother Mitzi Shore, in 1999.

The beating appears to have resulted after a dispute over an unpaid bar tab.

This isn’t the first time Shore has been in trouble with the law relating to actions of his employees at The Comedy Store. In January, a lawsuit was filed against Shore and The Comedy Store claiming that bouncers violently assaulted two patrons, Sean Kehoe and his daughter, Kirra Lyn Potts.

“According to the legal documents, the father-daughter duo were guests at the comedy club on November 30, 2022, when Kehoe was ‘violently grabbed and attacked’ by security personnel linked to Shore. The document also states that Shore was aware that there was a plan to assault Kehoe and that he allegedly ‘encouraged’ the attack.”

Shore’s family has long been involved in the entertainment and comedy world. The famous club was co-founded in 1972 by Sammy Shore, Pauly’s father and Mitzi’s husband. Mitzi became the owner two years after the club’s founding after her divorce from Sammy. It was she who helmed the club throughout the years, fostering comedic talent like Roseanne Barr, Andrew Dice Clay, Whoopi Goldberg, Sebastian Maniscalco, Robin Williams, David Letterman, and Jay Leno, to name a few. Mitzi passed away in 2018. The club is now owned by Pauly Shore as the Trustee of the Mitzi S. Shore Trust.

On the night in question, Preschutti was visiting the club to watch comedy. According to the lawsuit, Preschutti forgot to close out his tab before leaving the club that night.

“Plaintiff walked downstairs and exited the club, and began to walk down the sidewalk toward his home a few blocks away. Plaintiff then heard employees of the club yelling at him to stop. He stopped and turned around to see who was yelling. Two bouncers from the Comedy Store, who had yelled at Plaintiff, ran up, grabbed Plaintiff and detained him.”

According to the documents, after paying his tab, a bouncer alleged that Preschutti tried to hit a waitress. A brutal assault ensued.

“One of the two bouncers still restraining Plaintiff, who appeared to Plaintiff to weigh about 350-375 pounds, threw Plaintiff to the sidewalk, face-down. While Plaintiff was face-down on the sidewalk, various bouncers for the Comedy Store began to hit and kick him for an appreciable period of time. The bouncer that threw Plaintiff to the ground, while this beating occurred, yelled ‘This is for Pauly!’ After a continuous beating for a period of time, Plaintiff found that he had been forced onto his back, partially into the gutter, pinned between the curb and an automobile, with the large bouncer that had thrown him to the ground laying on top of Plaintiff, screaming obscenities and epithets towards him. Plaintiff was yelling, ‘What did I do?’ One of the bouncers, at one point, yelled to the other bouncers ‘take him down the street and beat the s--- out of him down there.’ Plaintiff’s beating including somewhere around 5 to 7 Comedy Store bouncers, some of them beating on Plaintiff, some of them kicking and stomping on Plaintiff; at times, their acts became so violent that other bouncers attempted to restrain them, lest they kill Plaintiff.”

A video of some of the assault was distributed online.

“Plaintiff suffered severe physical and emotional damages as a result of the beating to be shown according to proof at trial.” Preschutti is asking for a trial and for compensatory and punitive damages and the cost of the suit.