Adam Carolla Defends Chris Hardwick Against Sexual Abuse Allegations: ‘He’s a Gentle Soul of a Guy’

Adam Carolla defended fellow comedian and TV host Chris Hardwick Wednesday on his podcast, “The Adam Carolla Show, calling the Nerdist co-founder a “gentle soul of a guy.” Hardwick, who has previously appeared on Carolla’s show, was accused of sexual and emotional abuse by his ex-girlfriend, actress and TV host Chloe Dysktra. Although he was not named by name in Dykstra’s essay, Hardwick denied the allegations the following day, writing, “at no time did I sexually assault her.”

“First off, he’s a gentle soul of a guy,” Carolla said, adding that people on Twitter were asking him to comment on Hardwick. “Chris has always been a very thoughtful, sort of just gentle guy… Also, there’s no such thing as being in a relationship, where somebody couldn’t compose something that said ‘I felt threatened.'”

In a candid essay published Thursday on Medium, Dykstra painted a picture of a very controlling relationship with the unnamed Hardwick, alleging that she was not allowed to have male friends, take photos with him, or talk at parties.

“Here’s our problem,” Carolla said. “We live in a world where we don’t know if Chris Hardwick said — ‘When we go to a party, bitch, you zip it… Or he did what I do at parties, which is, forget the person’s name, never to introduce him to my wife, get drunk and talk everyone’s ear off… Because everyone is making allegations about everything all the time, we don’t know, which is the problem with everyone making allegations all the time.”

Carolla is the first person to speak out publicly in support of Hardwick. You can listen to the podcast of “The Adam Carolla Show” at The Wrap.