Superstar Comedian Breaks Silence on Damning Accusations

Instagram/@sebastiancomedy Comedian Sebastian Maniscalco has responded to a rising industry controversy involving SiriusXM’s decision to ax the Raw Comedy channel.

On Monday, SiriusXM announced that it would replace the Raw Comedy channel, a 24/7 broadcast featuring over 800 comedians, with Maniscalco’s Comedy Radio.

The latter will feature Mansicalco’s material along with a curated mix of comedians dead and alive.

The move will eliminate about 500 comedians from the original channel.

Comedians have responded with outrage and criticism.

The nonprofit Stand Up for Stand Up called SiriusXM’s decision “bad for the future of comedy,” saying it “hurts passive revenue, and discoverability, as well as the infrastructure that supports up and coming comedians.” The likes of Patton Oswalt , Dane Cook , and Marc Maron have come out in support of the statement.

“Sebastian, c’mon, man,” said Oswalt in a video .

“From one touring comedian to the other: do the right thing.” Maniscalco, 53, has now responded to the backlash.

The comedian—who trails behind only Nate Bargatze and Kevin Hart in touring popularity —released a response via Instagram Stories.

“This goes out to all my fellow comedians,” he said.

“I want to let you know I heard you, I support you, I love you.

I know how hard the grind is; believe me, I’ve been there.” Maniscalco denied being a part of the decision-making process.

“I had nothing to do with removing the Raw Comedy from SiriusXM.

That was a SiriusXM decision,” said the comedian, who has over 2.5 million followers on Instagram.