Comedian Carrot Top reportedly overdosed on prescription medication during an alleged suicide attempt Friday.
The 61-year-old entertainer took prescription pills before being hospitalized for a suspected overdose, according to TMZ, which reported the incident Monday.
The Clark County Fire Department responded to his Las Vegas home at approximately 4:20 p.m. Friday after receiving a report of a 61-year-old man who was “not alert,” the outlet said.
Although an ambulance from the City of Las Vegas also arrived, the longtime Las Vegas performer — whose legal name is Scott Thompson — was taken to the hospital in a private ambulance that came to the scene.
Thompson is awake and breathing without assistance, his representative, Jami Schlicher, told Page Six on Sunday.
“Scott remains hospitalized and under close medical care,” Schlicher said. “He is now awake, breathing on his own and continuing to improve, surrounded by his family and those closest to him.”
“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,” she added.
Thompson’s long-running show at the Luxor Hotel and Casino, where he began performing in 2005, typically runs every day except Sunday. His hospitalization led to the cancellation of five performances.
Before the reported suicide attempt, Thompson was allegedly the target of an extortion attempt involving a sex tape, according to court documents obtained by Page Six.
In a Sept. 3 filing in Broward County, Florida, Thompson’s attorney, Ronnie Bitman, alleged that musician Brian Evans — who previously performed as Thompson’s opening act — threatened to release an X-rated video involving the comedian unless he received $500,000 in “immediately available funds.”
“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,” Bitman wrote in part.
Evans told Page Six that the email referenced in the filing was “intended to be confidential.” He denied ever threatening to publish the video in exchange for a settlement.
Evans also claimed that the video “was deleted a long time ago” under the terms of an earlier settlement.
“I am sorry that Scott apparently did something to hurt himself,” Evans told Page Six. “He’s a great talent but these are issues he needs to deal with and move past.”
He added, “Scott is still young and has a big life ahead of him. It’s not my intent to bring this guy down. It’s the opposite. … Thankfully he is still with us.”