‘We’ve fired them’: Youngkin dumps Eventbrite over Riley Gaines cancellation

Add Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin to the list of those ditching Eventbrite over its decision to de-list women’s sports advocate Riley Gaines while allowing posts for anti-Israel events.

The Republican governor said Monday that “when companies that take these kinds of stances, the customers can fire them. And in our case, we’ve fired them.”

“As governor, I have told our political committee that we will no longer use Eventbrite. The governor’s office is no longer using Eventbrite,” Mr. Youngkin said on the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton radio show. 

“I would ask your listeners: Do not respond or RSVP to an invitation from Eventbrite. Just stop using them,” he said.

Eventbrite landed on the right’s boycott list after Ms. Gaines revealed last week that the platform took down a listing for her Speak Louder Campus Tour, citing its policy against events that discriminate based on factors including gender identity.

The former University of Kentucky swimmer, a well-known advocate for keeping biological males out of female sports, thanked Mr. Youngkin for his support.

“More of this,” she tweeted. “On behalf of all sensible people, thank you for your stance!”

Those leading the boycott bandwagon include Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas Republican, who tweeted that the San Francisco-based ticketing and event-management company “should get the FULL Bud Light treatment.”

Eventbrite has not commented publicly on the outcry, but co-founder Kevin Hartz tweeted last week that “to accuse Eventbrite of being Pro-Hamas is egregious and moronic.”

The company removed two pro-Palestinian events, a New York City panel on “Stop the Genocide! Free Palestine,” and a London rally called “Carnage in Palestine: Oppression, Complicity, and Ethical Responsibility,” after pushback on social media from Mr. Travis, founder of OutKick.

More of this👏🏼

On behalf of all sensible people, thank you for your stance! @GovernorVA https://t.co/AK0JxyEEQM

— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) October 30, 2023

 

Mr. Youngkin said that the “blowback here has been warranted,” citing the brutal Oct. 7 attack on Israeli civilians by Hamas, the Islamist terror group that controls the Palestinian enclave on the Gaza Strip.

“Let’s first recognize that a Hamas terrorist group invaded Israel and conducted barbaric attacks on women and children and killed nearly 1,400 Israelis,” he said. “They need to be condemned and there’s no place to sit on the fence here: You’re either condemning it or you’re condoning it.”

Mr. Youngkin said, “the fact that, first of all, Eventbrite continues to carry events around Hamas is unbelievable, but then on top of that, to proactively terminate an agreement with Riley is beyond belief.”

The Washington Times has reached out to Eventbrite for comment.

The decision to jettison the Gaines event, a Nov. 3 speech at the University of California Davis called “Protecting Women’s Sports,” isn’t the first time Eventbrite has taken issue with those challenging the transgender movement.

In July, Eventbrite unpublished a “Let Women Speak” forum in Austin, Texas, saying the discussion promoting single-sex spaces violated its policy against “hateful, dangerous, or violent content and events.”

Eventbrite’s decision to cancel Ms. Gaines’ speech prompted a letter from Sen. Eric Schmitt, Missouri Republican, who asked Eventbrite CEO Julia Hartz for information on which events have been dropped and which organizations have been allowed on the platform.

“Eventbrite 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,” Mr. Schmitt said in the Oct. 27 letter.