A controversial comedian will not be performing at his sold-out shows in Kitchener, Ont. this weekend.
A representative for Ben Bankas told CTV News the venue, Elements Nightclub, has now cancelled the event. They added the comedian “has thousands of fans in Kitchener and is disappointed not to be able to perform for them this weekend.”
According to his team, ticket holders will be refunded by the venue and emails are being sent out Friday.
“Sometime in the future, he will be back in the area to play for his thousands of fans,” his team told CTV News.
Bankas was originally scheduled to take the stage at the Conrad Centre for the Performing Arts on March 7. Following criticism from the community, the decision was made to “relocate” the shows from the city-owned venue. Bankas was then booked to perform at Elements Nightclub in downtown Kitchener.
CTV News reached out to the club multiple times. The venue has not responded to requests for comment.
Controversial comedy
Bankas’ comedy can be polarizing. His take on immigrants, diversity, the 2SLGBTQIA+ community and residential schools has, at times, prompted backlash.
Bankas recently came under fire for mocking the death of Renee Good, who was fatally shot by ICE agents in Minnesota. The comedian was already scheduled to perform there but the venue ended up cancelling those shows.
Disappointed fans
Natasha Hamilton was excited to go to the Kitchener show.
“I bought the tickets back in December,” said Hamilton, a Waterloo resident. “They sold out pretty quick.”
She was sad to see it was cancelled.
“I was disappointed. I’ve been waiting months,” Hamilton said.
Another fan, Jesse Eckstein, planned on going to one of the two sold-out Saturday shows.
“I think it’s kind of a slippery slope when you say something doesn’t belong in your town. This was an agreed upon event that had a ticket price where adults who bought these tickets,” Eckstein said.
Eckstein didn’t agree with all of the backlash Bankas had been getting.
“If you don’t like something, you don’t have to go to it or you don’t have to patronize it, but you don’t need to necessarily ruin other people’s good times or what other people could consider as a good time.”
Kitchener protest
Concerned residents and community groups in Kitchener had planned a counter-protest outside the Conrad Centre for the Performing Arts ahead of his appearance there. Those plans then shifted to Elements Nightclub.
Sarah Walker was thrilled when news broke that the shows had been cancelled.
“We had a great celebration [Thursday] night,” she told CTV News. “The excitement was palpable with what ended up being several groups of people who really got together and pushed for this to become what it became, which was the cancellation. Which was our ultimate goal.”
Queer Youth Defence helped organize a campaign to send messages to Elements and its parent company, calling for the cancellation.
“Just because something isn’t illegal doesn’t mean it’s not immoral. It doen’t mean that it’s not hate speech. It just means that is not legally considered hate speech,” said Acer Bonaparte from Queer Youth Defence.
Representatives for the comedian felt people should be able to choose whether or not to see the show.
“The people who accuse Bankas of hate speech are sorely misinformed about the satire and humour laws in Canada which fully cover making satirical comments about current events and other sensitive subjects. Venues also have the right to tell ‘haters’ to buzz off and still present the show as scheduled. Freedom of creative expression also covers this,” they explained in a February statement.
They also said there were no issues when Bankas previously performed in the area.
Other venues in other cities have cancelled his shows, and Walker hoped concerned citizens in Kitchener would push for others to do the same.
“We set out our goal, we accomplished that goal, and we’re going to continue trying to accomplish the same goal in all Canadian cities that he was intent to play at,” she promised.
