The Republican governor of Virginia directed his political organization and official staff to stop using the Eventbrite app after the company dumped a speaking engagement by superstar swimmer and feminist Riley Gaines — all the while, they promoted events supporting Hamas and its October 7 attacks on the Jewish State.
“As governor, I have told our political committee that we will no longer use Eventbrite. The governor’s office is no longer using Eventbrite,” said Governor Glenn Youngkin on the October 30 edition of the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show.
“My political committee and official office will no longer be using Eventbrite,” the governor said. “There’s no place to sit on the fence when it comes to the barbaric attack by the Hamas terrorists on Israel.”
My political committee and official office will no longer be using @eventbrite. There’s no place to sit on the fence when it comes to the barbaric attack by the Hamas terrorists on Israel. pic.twitter.com/59AtOgaMy4
— Glenn Youngkin (@GlennYoungkin) October 30, 2023
The governor said everyone should stop using Eventbrite.
“As governor, I have told our political committee that we will no longer use Eventbrite. The governor’s office is no longer use Eventbrite,” he said.
“I would ask your listeners, do not respond or RSVP to an invitation from Eventbrite,” the governor said.
“Just stop using them,” he said. “The customers can fire, and in our case, we fire ’em.”
Gaines, a 23-year-old graduate of the University of Kentucky, is scheduled to speak at a November 3 event sponsored by the University of California at Davis College Republicans:
The Davis College Republicans are proud to host Riley Gaines. Riley swam for the University of Kentucky, where she participated in a controversial NCAA Swimming Championship in 2022. In the race, she competed against and tied Lia Thomas, a biological male who identifies as a woman. However, she was treated differently than Lia Thomas by the NCAA officials, who decided to give Lia the trophy immediately after the event. Since that race, Riley has advocated for the protection of women’s sports to ensure a fair and safe environment for women athletes.
The app company, whose service provides digital ticketing and promotion, sent her a notice that her event violated its community standards.
Eventbrite went public in 2018 and quickly hit $36 per share; since then, the company has seen its revenues fall, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, Eventbrite laid off 45 percent of its workforce.
As the controversy broke into the news cycle, the co-founder and chairman Kevin Hartz leaned into it, not backing off an inch. On X, he taunted Travis with a post he pinned at the top of his profile feed.
The Washington Times reported that conservatives are now boycotting the company in the article, “Eventbrite gets ‘the Bud Light treatment’ after de-listing Riley Gaines event.”
Gaines is booking college campuses across the country with her Speak Louder tour, and her October 28 appearance at Harvard drew 100 attendees — and a pearl-clutching account from The Harvard Crimson:
“I want more and more trans people to have the opportunity to grace this campus, to play sports, and to become the next dean or the next president of Harvard University,” she said. “Continue letting your voices be heard — your faces be seen — because that is the only way that we’re going to create concrete change for our trans youth.”
During the speaker event, Gaines repeatedly misgendered transgender athletes, including Thomas, drawing laughter from the crowd.
The Crimson article included a photo of a poster that read: “Riley’s Evil Our Joy.”
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Neil W. McCabe is a staff reporter for The Virginia Star.
Background Photo “Riley Gaines” by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0.
