Comedian Carrot Top is awake and breathing on his own in a Las Vegas hospital after an alleged suicide attempt, and court documents reveal he faced a $500,000 extortion demand over a sex tape in the weeks before his hospitalization.
Scott Thompson, the 61-year-old prop comic known by his stage name Carrot Top, was rushed to a Las Vegas-area hospital on a Friday after what sources described as a suicide attempt. His representative, Jami Schlicher, confirmed the hospitalization and said Thompson is improving, surrounded by family. His long-running weekend shows at the Luxor Hotel and Casino, a residency he has held since 2005, were canceled, and the future of the residency remains uncertain.
The hospitalization alone would be a jarring story. But court documents obtained by Page Six add a darker layer: Thompson's attorney filed papers in a Broward County, Florida court on September 3 alleging that musician Brian Evans, a former opening act for Thompson's Luxor show, demanded half a million dollars to keep a sexually explicit recording of Thompson out of the public court file.
The September 3 court filing, submitted by Thompson's attorney Ronnie Bitman, lays out the alleged extortion in plain terms. Bitman wrote that Evans "demands immediate payment of significant sums and states that, absent immediate payment, a sexually explicit recording of Thompson will be filed in the public court file so that it may be obtained and disseminated by the press and other parties."
Evans' own email to Bitman, included in the filing, requested $500,000 "in immediately available funds, in exchange for resolution of all claims against" Thompson. The alternative, the filing indicates, was that Evans would place a video from a USB drive into the public docket, where reporters and anyone else could access it.
Evans' email carried a deadline and a warning:
"I am telling you... that I would rather resolve the claims against your client [Thompson] than continue this motion practice."
He added that if Bitman did not meet his terms, "it is not an offer your client will ever see again, not even remotely close."
In the same email, Evans attempted to frame his demand as something other than a threat:
"It is not a threat. I am not offering to create coverage, stop coverage, or trade silence for money. I cannot control what outlets write after a public motion is filed. The only thing that stops coverage is if we both stop filing anything."
That language, "I cannot control what outlets write", reads less like a disclaimer and more like a roadmap for exactly the kind of pressure Thompson's legal team described. Demanding $500,000 while spelling out the media consequences of non-payment is the textbook shape of a shakedown, regardless of how carefully the sender words it.
Evans told Page Six that the email was "intended to be confidential." He said he "never threatened, ever, to post any video anywhere in exchange for a settlement." He also claimed the video in question "was deleted a long time ago" under the terms of a prior settlement between the two men.
Evans told Page Six he was sorry Thompson felt compelled to harm himself.
Thompson's representative pushed back hard. Schlicher told Page Six that Evans has been declared a "vexatious litigant" by a judge, who described his court filings as "serial" and "spurious." That designation, a legal label courts reserve for people who abuse the system with repeated meritless filings, suggests this was not an isolated dispute.
The nature of the underlying legal conflict between Thompson and Evans is not detailed in the court filings made public so far. Nor is it clear whether law enforcement has been notified of the alleged extortion or opened any investigation.
Schlicher provided an update on Thompson's condition that offered some relief. Thompson is "now awake, breathing on his own and continuing to improve," she said, adding that he is "surrounded by his family and those closest to him."
She also described a moment that sounds like the comedian the public knows:
"Humor has always been such an important part of who Scott is and how he connects with people, and that remains true today as he shares moments of humor with the medical staff caring for him."
Fan messages have reached Thompson in the hospital. Schlicher said many included "stories from people about how his comedy helped them through difficult periods in their own lives," and that "hearing those stories and feeling that support has meant a great deal to him during his recovery."
Thompson's family asked that his privacy be respected.
His residency at the Luxor, where he has performed since 2005, making it one of the longest-running shows in Las Vegas history, is now described as "up in the air." His weekend shows were canceled immediately after the hospitalization. Luxor representatives did not respond to requests for comment.
The New York Post reported that Thompson's Friday night performance was among the first canceled, with his representative confirming he was "recovering in the hospital and is receiving the care and support he needs."
Several key facts remain unknown. The method of the alleged suicide attempt has not been disclosed. The exact date, described only as "Friday", has not been pinned to a specific calendar date in public statements. The case number and full court name for the Broward County filing have not been released. And the terms of the earlier settlement between Thompson and Evans, the one Evans says included deletion of the video, remain undisclosed.
Whether Evans still possesses the recording, despite his claim that it was deleted, is a question that matters both legally and practically. His email explicitly referenced a USB drive. His denial referenced a prior agreement. Those two statements sit uneasily together.
A man who spent two decades making audiences laugh at the Luxor is now in a hospital bed, and court records show that in the weeks before he got there, someone was demanding half a million dollars to keep a private recording out of public view. The legal system will sort out whether that demand crossed the line into extortion. The human cost is already plain.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255 or text 741741 to reach the Crisis Text Line.
