Daniel Franzese, known for his role as Damian in the 2004 film "Mean Girls," has addressed the circumstances surrounding his sudden exit from a comedy performance at The Comedy Store in Los Angeles.
Franzese, 48, stated that he was on the verge of passing out due to a lack of sleep, food, and water. He was performing as part of a show featuring comedians such as Arsenio Hall, Jay Leno, and Chelsea Handler. During his set, Franzese experienced lightheadedness and vision disturbances, prompting him to leave the stage to avoid fainting. He reported feeling fine after a few minutes backstage, having splashed water on his face.
An insider had initially told The Daily Mail that Franzese's set had fallen flat and that he left the stage mid-performance without returning. Attendees described the experience as "painful to watch" and noted that the audience reaction dwindled during his jokes about topics ranging from Tom Cruise to syphilis rates in West Hollywood. Franzese reportedly stopped his act after about 11 minutes into his scheduled 15-minute set and asked host Jessica Keenan to return to the stage before he exited.
Franzese later shared on social media, "Turns out doing stand-up on 30 minutes of sleep with no food or water is not the wellness journey I thought it was." He also advised his audience to "sleep, eat and hydrate or Die-drate," promising to eat before future shows.
Franzese's career includes his iconic role in "Mean Girls," where he shared improvisation credits with the cast. He also publicly came out in 2014 via an open letter to his "Mean Girls" character and has spoken about his past experiences with gay conversion therapy. He is scheduled for upcoming shows at The Comedy Store.