Scott Thompson, the longtime Las Vegas comedian known as Carrot Top, was the target of a payment demand tied to an explicit video shortly before his reported suicide attempt and hospitalization last Friday. Court papers from early September in Broward County, Florida, state that musician Brian Evans, a former opening act for Thompson, emailed the comedian’s lawyer seeking 500000 dollars to resolve outstanding claims or else place the recording in a public docket.

Evans later told Page Six the email was meant to stay private, that he never linked any video release to a settlement, and that the file had already been deleted under a prior agreement. He added that he regretted Thompson’s self-harm, viewed him as talented, and hoped he would recover. Thompson’s representative said a federal judge in southern Florida had labeled Evans a vexatious litigant after more than a dozen recent pro se filings that appeared frivolous; Evans also sought recusal of a judge in a related case.