Candace Owens (by Gage Skidmore, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0)
Music Hall of Williamsburg cancels Candace Owens ‘Blexit’ event
In the face of backlash, the venue said it had not realized that the provocateur 'provides a platform for hate speech and homophobia'
Music Hall of Williamsburg has canceled “Blexit,” an event backed by controversial right-winger Candace Owens, that was to have taken place on Saturday.”
The “Blexit Live Liberation Tour” stop in Brooklyn was slated to include guest speakers Brandon Tatum, John Amanchukwu, Stephen Davis, and host Pierre Wilson in addition to Owens herself.
Owens, a conservative talk show host, author and activist, is a conspiracy theorist who has promoted lies about Covid-19 vaccines made anti-Semitic remarks, is critical of feminism, has called The Walt Disney Corporation “child groomers and pedophiles,” has described drag queen story hours as “child abuse,” and more.
Word that her “Blexit” tour would be stopping in Brooklyn was met with swift and furious social media outrage.
On Wednesday, Music Hall management alleged on Instagram that “Blexit” organizers misled the venue, writing that “organizers presented themselves as ‘a non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of urban and minority communities’ when they requested to rent the venue.”
The post continues: “It has become abundantly clear to us that in actuality this organization provides a platform for hate speech and homophobia, which The Bowery Presents will not tolerate, and we have canceled their rental contract. This event will not take place in our venue.”
“Blexit” is run by Turning Point USA, a right-wing organization that claims to encourage Black voters to leave the Democratic party. Trump-supporter and fellow nutjob Charlie Kirk frequently speaks at these events.
Reactions were mixed on the venue’s Instagram post. “Do y’all have no black employees who could have told you what this was about?,” a person remarked. Another wrote: “Glad it’s cancelled, but it’s so clearly bullsh-t to claim you didn’t know what an event by TPUSA featuring Candace Owens & Charlie Kirk as speakers was going to be. Be real.”
Owens, a frequent shit-poster on Twitter, hasn’t yet responded.
View this post on Instagram
