Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin said in an interview that he had fired Eventbrite after the company pulled promotion from its website for a speech by former college swimming star Riley Gaines.
Youngkin criticized the event management and ticketing company after it had removed promotions for a speech by Gaines, a vocal critic of transgender-identifying males participating in women’s sports, at UC Davis. The promotion for Gaines’ event, which is going to be a rally for the protection of women’s sports, was taken down because Eventbrite said that it violated “Community Guidelines.”
“When a company decides it’s going make statements on political and social issues, they have to live with the consequences, and the blowback here has been warranted,” Youngkin said when appearing on “The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show.”
.@GlennYoungkin tells @ClayTravis and @BuckSexton he's fired @eventbrite after they banned @Riley_Gaines_ while promoting pro-Hamas events.
More in the podcast: https://t.co/WvNDsUybBx pic.twitter.com/khdbnJ4Eqk
— The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show (@clayandbuck) October 30, 2023
Criticism from Youngkin also focused on the allowance of pro-Hamas events on the platform.
“First of all, Eventbrite continues to carry events around Hamas, which is unbelievable, but then, on top of that, to proactively terminate an agreement with Riley is beyond belief,” Youngkin said. “And to say that they are trying to protect some group and not the other, I think, results in the kind of action that I’ve taken.”
“What should happen to these companies that take these kinds of stances?” the Virginia governor added. “The customers can fire them, and in our case, we fired them.”
Gaines thanked Youngkin for his decision in a post on X, urging similar action from others.
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“More of this,” she said. “On behalf of all sensible people, thank you for your stance!”
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
Gaines had been told that Eventbrite had determined that her “event is not permitted on the event, Brite marketplace as it violates our community guidelines in terms of service, with which all users agreed to comply.”
Eventbrite faced criticism for previously allowing events that were pro-Hamas to be platformed. One such event, that was later removed from the platform, was called “Stop the Genocide! Free Palestine!” and was organized by “Tempest NYC.”
“Early on Saturday, October 7th, Palestinian resistance fighters broke through Israel’s siege of Gaza,” the event description said. “This panel will explore the historical context that led to the current moment, the dynamics currently at play, and the possibilities for building international solidarity for Palestinian liberation.”
The Daily Wire reached out to Eventbrite for comment on Youngkin’s decision.