US entertainment company apologizes for canceling Israeli comedian’s show

A US entertainment company apologizes for canceling a show by Israeli comedian Guy Hochman.

Hochman’s show at the Fine Arts Theater in Beverly Hills, California, was canceled yesterday.

The theater had posted a statement on social media announcing the cancellation, saying it had received complaints about Hochman, and could not “find any proof of the accusations,” but asked Hochman to make public statements saying that he “did not support the genocide, rape, starvation and torture of Palestinian civilians.”

Hochman refused and was banned from the facility, the statement said, adding that the company “is not political and does not ask the political beliefs” of its renters and that “we don’t support genocide.”

The statement was posted by the theater, but signed by Michael Hall, the president of the Screening Services Group, a company that operates screening rooms in the US. The relationship between the theater and the company was not immediately clear.

In a follow-up statement, the theater shares a statement from Hall apologizing for canceling Hochman’s show.

“I want to apologize, especially to the Jewish community, for my statement and for how this situation was handled. I understand that my decision caused harm and distress,” Hall says.

He adds that, ahead of the event, he and the theater were inundated with messages, including “threats of violence,” causing him to cancel the show.

“It was wrong to ask any artist to make political or ideological statements as a condition of appearing. Imposing a litmus test of any kind was a mistake,” he says.

The Israeli-American Council says it mobilized in support of Hochman, sending over 200 messages to the theater and meeting with the theater director.

Hochman’s tour of North America has been plagued by controversies due to a campaign by anti-Zionist activist groups that shared videos of Hochman joking about the war in Gaza and staged protests against him.

He was reportedly held at a Toronto airport for six hours for questioning after the Hind Rajab Foundation, an anti-Zionist activist group, filed a complaint against him.

Days later, in New York City, a venue canceled Hochman’s show after protests from anti-Zionist groups.