At a charity event held at DC Improv last night, a comedian allegedly punched a Newsweek Daily Beast journalist over a few tweets critical of his standup.

Josh Rogin was at the D.C.’s Funniest Celebrity contest when he says headliner Dan Nainan, who advertises himself as a “100 percent clean Indian comedian,” punched him over the following tweets.

About ten minute laters.

“Dan Nainan comes over to me and says, ‘Are you Josh Rogin,’ and I said yes and then he punched me in the jaw, then he pushed me, then he walked away and about 10 seconds later he came over and punched me again,” Rogin told Washington Whispers.

Metropolitan Police Department spokesperson Araz Alali confirmed that Nainan was arrested for simple assault, which he said was observed by a witness. Nainan was taken to D.C. jail and processed. DC Improv said on Twitter they donated the space to the charity event and “have nothing to do with the acts involved on show. So sorry.”

Update: In an email, Nainan claims that Rogin tried to hit him first. This is not in the MPD police report and isn’t corroborated by witnesses. Nainan wrote, “I saw the tweets that the gentleman was posting, I went over to him and asked if he was Josh Rogin. When he said ‘yes,’ I angrily told him it was fine to pick on me, but lay off of everybody else because they had never done this before. He took a swing at me, and I retaliated. As often happens, the person who retaliates is the one that gets caught.”

Rogin responded in an email, saying “I did not instigate this incident. It occurred exactly the way that I and several witnesses reported at the time and is documented in the police report, which is a matter of public record.”

Request for comment from the founder of D.C.’s Funniest Celebrity sent this morning was not immediately returned.

For the record, CNN’s Candy Crowley, who also told some jokes last night, did not punch Rogin over this tweet.

Request for comment from the founder of D.C.’s Funniest Celebrity sent this morning was not immediately returned.

For the record, CNN’s Candy Crowley, who also told some jokes last night, did not punch Rogin over this tweet.

Neither did NPR’s Jamie McIntyre.

Or Ralph Nader.

Filed Under: dc improv, dc's funniest celebrity, punching, this town,