Comedian Heather McDonald collapses onstage at an Arizona comedy club and suffered a skull fracture.
Heather Ann McDonald, 51, is an American actress, comedian, and author. Born and educated in Southern California, she is best known for her appearances on the E! series Chelsea Lately.
She was one of the eight writers on the show and often participated in sketches and segments. McDonald also wrote and appeared in the show’s spin-off. Her first book, a 2010 memoir of her college years, made the Bestseller List of the New York Times.
McDonald was onstage at the Tempe Improv for about three minutes then the incident happened, she collapsed suddenly and suffered a skull fracture as a result of the fall.
McDonald is on the road to recovery as she said on her Tuesday episode at “Juicy Scoop” podcast, she said all the tests performed on her at the hospital came back with a positive result.
McDonald said: “They checked everything over and over again, and now I’m just recovering from having a concussion. So I did have a fracture in my skull right in the back of my head which caused some bleeding, but then the next CAT scans the morning after showed that it was already starting to heal itself.”
On Tuesday, the Comedian revealed that she felt slightly weird moments before she took the stage, but shook it off and launched into her set intro. She said that she began feeling dizzy and wondered if the leather blazer she was wearing was the cause.
McDonald recalled thinking to herself: “Wow … this better pass soon. I don’t know how I’m going to do the rest of my act for like an hour.”
To follow up and to make sure that she is safe and sound, she went to a local hospital where a test revealed that no underlying medical issues were found. The statement also noted that the comedian has been tested for COVID-19 and remains negative at all cost and had consumed no alcohol prior to or during the show.
The Juicy Scoop podcast host gave her nearly 280,000 Instagram followers an update from her hospital bed, revealing that she fell on her eye. McDonald said in a clip posted on her Instagram Story: “So, I’m in the emergency room. Oh my god, I’m so, so, so, so sorry.”
“I passed out onstage. I got up, I did one joke and I felt so dizzy. I cannot believe this happened. I feel so terrible that they had to tell everyone to leave and then cancel the second show. Tempe, I will be back. I’ve never ever fainted in my life,” she added.
During her podcast on Tuesday, McDonald said she was wearing sunglasses to cover up “Two completely black eyes”, which the comedian said is most likely the result of the physical impact of hitting the back of her head claiming that “The vessels in your eyes are so sensitive”.
McDonald has released stand-up specials including “Juicy Scoop” in 2020 and “I Don’t Mean To Brag” in 2014 and hosts a comedy and pop culture podcast titled “Juicy Scoop with Heather McDonald”. She served as the host of TLC, was also a writer and producer on “Chelsea Lately,” and appeared in the Wayans Brothers’ “White Chicks” and Dance Flicks.”
McDonald also made cameos on reality shows including Keeping Up With the Kardashians, The Bachelorette, Vanderpump Rules, and several of the Real Housewives franchise series.
McDonald isn’t the first performer to suffer a fall during a show, Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, Tim McGraw, Kelly Rowland, and Kid Cudi have also experienced incidents of collapsing or falling during performances.