News/Commentary

GOP senator demands answers from Eventbrite over canceling Riley Gaines event

October 28, 2023 | | Print Article

U.S. Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) is standing with women’s rights advocate Riley Gaines and confronting Eventbrite over the issue of free speech.

Schmitt fired off a letter to Eventbrite CEO Julia Hartz on Friday, accusing the event ticket-selling company of hypocrisy and “selectively applying or hiding behind its community guidelines and terms of service” to promote a woke agenda and “silence” conservative viewpoints.

As BizPac Review reported, Gaines received an email from Eventbrite informing her that the event she had been promoting through the site had been removed from its platform.

“We have determined that your event is not permitted on the Eventbrite marketplace as it violates our Community Guidelines and Terms of Service, with which all users agree to comply,” the company told Gaines. “Specifically, we do not allow content or events that — through on- or off-platform activity — discriminate against, harass, disparage, threaten, incite violence against, or otherwise target individuals or groups based on their actual or perceived race, ethnicity, religion, national origin, immigration status, gender identity, sexual orientation, veteran status, age, or disability.”

Meanwhile, the platform continues to promote an anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian event after Hamas terrorists butchered Israeli civilians.

“It is worth noting that while this type of content is being removed from your platform, other events featuring individuals who have expressed deeply antisemitic views comparing Israel to Nazi Germany and others who are prominent supporters of the BDS movement against Israel are allowed to host or speak at events listed on Eventbrite,” Schmitt wrote in his Eventbrite email, according to Fox News Digital.

Schmitt demanded from the ticket-sellers “a complete list of events that Eventbrite has unpublished for violation of its terms of service and reasoning for unpublishing those events” and “a complete list of organizations who have hosted an event on Eventbrite’s platform.”

He stressed that “free speech must be protected.”

“The free exchange of ideas is the lifeblood of our Constitutional Republic, and one’s right to free speech must be protected,” the senator wrote. “Whether one disagrees with events listed on your platform or the views of an individual hosting an event on your platform, the ability for Americans — particularly on college campuses — to engage in open dialogue about the issues facing the world today is vital.”

“Eventbrite,” he stated, “appears to be selectively applying or hiding behind its community guidelines and terms of service to promote a liberal-progressive agenda to silence and unpublish events that express conservative viewpoints that you may disagree with.”


Schmitt’s criticism was echoed by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who posted on X, “Americans need to stop giving money to woke corporations that hate them. @eventbrite’s idiotic policies allow pro-Hamas rallies but ban people who hold the radical belief that women exist. They should get the FULL Bud Light treatment.”

In a previous statement to the outlet, Gaines vowed not to be “stifled.”

“If being pro-woman in woman’s sports is deemed anti-trans, then being pro-trans in woman’s sports is inherently anti-woman. And that is the stand Eventbrite has taken,” she said. “The event at UC Davis is still going to take place next month. My speech will not be stifled.”

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Melissa Fine
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