Famed comedian Carrot Top is accused of giving alcohol to an underage man at his Winter Park home and engaging in sexual conduct with him when he was too drunk to consent, according to a court filing.
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The allegation towards the comedian, whose real name is Scott Thompson, was recently mentioned in a lawsuit filed against him by a different man who claimed Thompson had sent him a sexually explicit video of himself.
Thompson, well-known for his wild red hair, was born in Rockledge, grew up in Cocoa Beach and graduated from Cocoa High School in 1983. A longtime Winter Park resident, he has headlined a long-running residency at the Luxor Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas since 2005.
He was hospitalized in the Las Vegas area Friday, reportedly after a suicide attempt. His spokesperson, Jami Schlicher, said Monday that he remains at the hospital under close medical care. She declined to comment on the circumstances that led to his hospitalization.
“He is now awake, breathing on his own and continuing to improve, surrounded by his family and those closest to him,” Schlicher said. “Many messages from fans have been shared…Scott and his family remain deeply grateful for the extraordinary kindness and continue to ask that his privacy be respected.”
Schlicher also declined to commend on recent allegations of sexual misconduct against her client.
Thompson was accused of sexual assault by 25-year-old Zachary Defazio in a Sept. 14 court filing in Broward County.
Defazio says he was 19 when he met Thompson, then in his mid-fifties, on the popular LGBTQ dating app Grindr in 2021. He said Thompson used a photograph of a torso that looked around Defazio’s age. When they met at a bar on Park Avenue, he found out the comedian’s real identity, and that Thompson used his wealth, fame, age and fancy home to gain his trust, the filing said.
Despite Defazio being underage, Thompson would give him alcohol at bars, his Winter Park residence, other homes and on boats, the filing states. In October 2021, while Defazio was too drunk to consent, Thompson engaged in unspecified sexual conduct with him, the filing alleges. It does not mention where the alleged sexual conduct took place.
Defazio said he hired an attorney to represent him, but that attorney later withdrew from the case.
His allegations were contained in a court filing submitted as part of a lawsuit against Thompson by Brian Evans, a Hallandale Beach recording artist and songwriter who says he used to be Thompson’s opening act and is now trying to overturn a previous legal settlement he made with the comedian.
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Evans, who is representing himself without an attorney, filed the suit on Aug. 6 in Broward County.
He says he and Thompson were close, with the comedian expressing an interest in helping him with future projects, but their relationship fell apart in 2022 or 2023 when Thompson texted him a video of him having oral sex with another male who appeared “significantly younger” than him, which caused him emotional distress.
He said he did not request the video or consent to being shown it, the suit said, and entered a legal settlement with Thompson in 2024 — one he is now trying to nullify on the grounds that he was suffering from PTSD and depression that affected his ability to fully understand the deal. He is also seeking further damages.
Evans alleges Thompson has a pattern of similar behavior that “far exceeds” what happened to him, which he says is supported by Defazio’s allegation.
Defazio, in his court filing, said he came forward after Evans’ case went public to give him support.
“I want this court to treat me as a victim who is standing with Evans, not as a sealed name the defense can wave away … so this court would stop being told there is only one man in this fight,” he wrote.
Thompson’s attorney, Ronnie Bitman, alleged in his own legal filings that Evans has attempted to extort the comedian.
Bitman’s filing included a copy of what he says is an email Evans sent to him, in which Evans states he has a $500,000 settlement offer for Thompson. But if the comedian refuses, the email states, Evans would continue the case and submit the video to the court, which would then make it public and could be covered by the media.
“I expect the press will report the motion and will use its own imagination about what the USB is. They are not going to miss what that filing means in context,” Evans wrote. “It is not a threat. I am not offering to create 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.
“If my deadline passes, it is not an offer your client will ever see again – not even remotely close,” Evans added, according to the filing.
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