Eventbrite, the event planning and ticket sales website, is hosting and profiting off of Proud Boys founder and violent white supremacist Gavin McInnes’ comedy tour. McInnes and some of his extremist pals are using the website to promote and sell tickets for their shows, dubbed “The Cognitive Dissidents Tour.”
The tour seems likely to violate Eventbrite’s community guidelines regarding events that espouse “hateful, dangerous, or violent content or events.” Eventbrite receives a percentage of ticket sale proceeds.
Two of the comedy shows took place in September and more are scheduled for October and November. An ad for the tour, featuring the Eventbrite logo, appears on the homepage of McInnes’ streaming platform, Censored.TV.
Who’s featured on the tour?
Gavin McInnes
McInnes is the founder of the violent, neofascist street gang the Proud Boys. The group was instrumental in the storming of the Capitol during the January 6 insurrection and has ties to white supremacist and hate groups, including Identity Evropa. The Proud Boys have been designated as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
McInnes himself has a long history of extremism and of pushing hateful, and sometimes murderous, rhetoric:
- While speaking with The New York Times in 2003, McInnes said, “I love being white and I think it’s something to be very proud of” and “I don't want our culture diluted. We need to close the borders now and let everyone assimilate to a Western, white, English-speaking way of life.''
- During a 2016 edition of the now-defunct The Gavin McInnes Show, McInnes said, “We will kill you. That’s the Proud Boys in a nutshell. We will kill you. We look nice. We seem soft. We have ‘boys’ in our name. But like Bill the Butcher and the Bowery Boys, we will assassinate you.”
- Also in 2016, McInnes described actor Jada Pinkett Smith a “monkey actress.”
- Alongside Infowars' Alex Jones, McInnes discussed whether women “deserve” to be assaulted.
- In 2017, McInnes released a video titled “10 things I hate about the Jews.”
- During a 2017 speech at New York University, McInnes said, “Violence doesn't feel good, justified violence feels great, and fighting solves everything.”
- McInnes described white women receiving abortions as threatening “white genocide.”
- In 2018, McInnes called female journalists “colostomy bags for various strangers' semen.”
- McInnes was banned from YouTube, Twitter, and Meta platforms for violating policies against hate speech and violent extremism.
Anthony Cumia
Anthony Cumia is a disgraced shock-jock radio host who operates his own subscription-based media company. McInnes’ defunct The Gavin McInnes Show used to be streamed on Cumia’s platform.
Cumia is a former SiriusXM host who was fired after posting racist tweets. Since his firing, Cumia has appeared on a “pro-white” radio program hosted by white supremacist James Edwards. During his 2014 appearance, Cumia complained that white men are treated as “the abomination of the United States'' and are looked at as “horrible people,” despite making “astounding” “achievements.”
Cumia used to work alongside Dave Landau, who is now a co-host of BlazeTV’s bigoted Louder with Crowder show. Cumia and McInnes currently host a show together titled Compound Censored.
Josh Denny
Josh Denny is a disgraced former Food Network host who has repeatedly used the N-word on Twitter and suggested that “‘Straight White Male’ has become this century’s N-Word.”
Denny hosts a clip show on McInnes’ streaming service.
Right-wing troll and BlazeTV contributor Alex Stein appeared at the tour’s Dallas stop as well.
