The claims have been angrily denied by the promoter

A comedy promoter has hit back at Karen Dunbar after the comedian and actor cancelled the final 20 dates of her Aw Roon the Hooses tour, claiming she had been paid for only five of the 39 shows she has performed.

The Scottish comedian, actor and DJ, best known for her work on Chewin’ the Fat, shared the news in a video posted on her official Instagram account. She said the tour had left her under “unbelievable” stress and told followers she was “gutted” to have to call off the remaining dates.

In the clip, Dunbar said the issue was that the promoter had not paid her.

However, in a statement on social media last night, Breakneck Comedy angrily dismissed the “inaccurate claim “ saying that they are “seeking legal advice on this matter”. They said low ticket sales meant they had approached Dunbar to discuss renegotiating her fee.

On the view, Dunbar had said “Hello, I'm gutted to tell you this, but my tour is cancelled. I've got 20 shows left, they'll not be going ahead.

“And the reason is, is because the promoter hasn't been paying me. I've been doing the tour for the last two months. I've done 39 shows - it would have been 40 but one of the shows was cancelled without me being told - and I've been paid for five shows, so I can't go on.

“Honestly, I've never been in a situation like this in my life. The stress has been unbelievable, and I am so sorry for the people that have bought tickets and will not be coming.”

Dunbar did not name the promoter or identify which shows had been cancelled.

However, Breakneck Comedy later released a statement.

“We are disappointed to have learned through social media one of our main comedians has announced the cancellation of the remainder of their Scottish tour. We were not contacted directly about this decision before the video was published.

“We strongly dispute the claims made about non payment, including the statement that the comedian has only been paid for five shows. Our position is that these claims are inaccurate, and we are seeking legal advice on this matter.

“This year, rising costs and increased venue hire changes, combined with lower ticket sales across the tour, meant we needed to approach the comedian to discuss renegotiating the tour agreement fee and terms.

“As a small business, we simply cannot afford to take on all the work and costs of organising a 60 show tour only to sustain a significant loss overall.

“Given the low sales across the tour, we asked the comedian to help us reach a fair, workable agreement that would allow the remaining dates to go ahead and to minimise our losses. Our proposal to renegotiate the fee to align with actual ticket sales was declined, and the matter was then referred to her solicitor.”

It added that for future tours, Breakneck Comedy will move to “agreed revenue splits instead of fixed guaranteed fees”.

Dates promoted by Punchline Promotions are not affected by the cancellations.