Hollywood Comedy Club Owner Faces Death Threats Following Influencer Video
The proprietor of a Hollywood comedy venue has reported that she and her employees have been subjected to death threats after a group of influencer sisters took over an open mic night. The Kalogeras Sisters—Sunday, Demitra, and Eliana—along with their collaborator, content creator Noah Risling, requested to perform at the Hollywood Comedy Club at the last minute on January 21, according to the LA Times.
Influencers Record Experience for Millions of Followers
The influencers documented their visit for their YouTube channel, which has an audience of 7.4 million subscribers. Shortly after the video was uploaded, fans began leaving harsh reviews of the club, resulting in 700 one-star reviews overnight. This caused the venue's Google rating to plummet from 4.5 stars to just 1.6.
Owner Jiaoying Summers stated that some devoted fans escalated to sending death threats to her and the host of the evening, Barry Montoya. "This is the worst thing that's ever happened to me," Summers told CBS News. "This club is my baby. This is the testament of my American dream."
Describing the abusive messages, Summers said, "It's a lot like 'kill yourself, kill yourself. The owner—disgusting, ugly—should kill yourself.'" She has since revealed that the incident exacerbated pre-existing serious health issues while she is pregnant with her second child.
Chaotic Night at the Open Mic
Speaking to the LA Times, Summers explained that the club's time slots were fully booked when the Kalogeras Sisters asked to be added to the show. To accommodate them, the manager instructed Montoya to fit in four additional performers. Since each comedian was allocated 10 minutes, Montoya decided to bump one performer and split the newcomers into five-minute segments—two at the beginning and two at the end of the night.
Risling and Eliana performed early around 9 pm, with the others scheduled later. However, Montoya claimed that while waiting, the sisters repeatedly interrupted, approaching him to ask when their turn would be. At one point, Demitra allegedly confronted him during another comedian's set, saying, "You said you were gonna f***ing get us up."
To avoid further disruption, Montoya allowed Demitra to take the stage next. When the audience did not respond positively to her jokes, Montoya alleged that she began insulting the crowd. "She proceeded to curse out everyone in the room from the stage," he said. "She basically said, 'F*** you guys, seriously, like f*** all of you.'"
Aftermath and Legal Battles
Montoya said the group left immediately after Sunday finished her set, but before departing, Demitra confronted him again, accusing him of rudeness. "I didn't really exchange words with her. I just told her to have a great day and sorry that they had a bad experience," he recounted.
In their 35-minute video, the Kalogeras Sisters claimed they felt disrespected by staff and attacked by audience comedians. Demitra stated in the video, "I wouldn't wish that comedy club on my worst enemy." Montoya maintains that the video is "definitely one-sided and there's a lot of edits, and just a lot of parts that weren't really well-documented from our perspective."
Following the video's upload, Summers and Montoya—an Asian woman and a Japanese Mexican American, respectively—began receiving hate messages, racist and sexist reviews, and death threats. Montoya reported having to filter his Instagram messages and was allegedly called racial slurs and told to slit his throat.
As negative reviews mounted, the Hollywood Comedy Club sent the Kalogeras Sisters a cease-and-desist notice, demanding they remove the video, which had garnered 2.6 million views by Thursday night. The notice asserted, "Clearly, the Kalogeras were not interested in an apology. They got what they wanted... 'content' that they could exploit for clicks."
Statements and Counterclaims
Summers released a detailed statement on the club's website, accusing the influencers of "blatantly lying and exaggerating their experience to their 7 million followers." The statement continued, "Our business is now in jeopardy and the safety of our staff, performers and patrons is at risk because The Kalogeras Sisters chose to exploit our club and our support of female comics for personal greed and clout."
It further alleged that the sisters were "loud, disruptive and disrespectful," filmed comedians without consent, performed sexually explicit material, and made up stories of sexual harassment. "This is deeply harmful to real survivors of sexual harassment and damages the reputation and safety of innocent male comedians," the statement said.
In response, a spokesperson for the sisters told CBS News that they "dispute the claims and will respond in the appropriate channels" and "do not condone bullying, harassment or threats of any kind." The sisters have also issued their own cease-and-desist order to Summers, demanding she stop posting about them and issue a public apology.
As the legal dispute continues, Summers has banned the sisters from both of her clubs. The Daily Mail has reached out to the Kalogeras Sisters for further comment.
