Hannibal Buress Kicked Off Stage at Loyola U. for Mentioning Church Sex Scandal

You would think Loyola University in Chicago would be somewhat familiar with comedian Hannibal Buress given that he was invited to perform there on Saturday night. But they shut off the microphone just minutes into his act after he criticized the Catholic school’s demands that he not reference rape or sexual assault. (Buress, of course, is best known for pushing the Bill Cosby sexual assault allegations back into the spotlight by highlighting them in his act.)

The comedian noted the restrictions before making a reference to the Catholic Church’s own problems.

As Consequence Of Sound reports, Buress scoffed at the administration, saying “Bitch ass old people, I can project” as he shared a screenshot of the message telling him what he should avoid talking about. Buress then said, “Y’all fuck kids, right?,” a reference to the scores of allegations of child sexual abuse and subsequent cover-ups that have been leveled against the Roman Catholic Church around the world.

That’s when they turned off the microphone and blasted music so he couldn’t be heard without one. The students weren’t happy with the decision. Even though they know full well the school’s Catholic affiliation, they usually have more liberal leanings.

Buress came back on stage 15 minutes later and performed a set that didn’t seem to violate any of the rules, though it’s not clear if that was a change from what he planned to say. We also don’t know what was said to him off stage.

Just to be clear, this isn’t some First Amendment issue. If anything, Loyola had the right to shut off his mic given that he was breaking their agreement. But there’s still something weird about a Catholic school telling a comedian he can’t talk about sexual assault or rape when Church leaders themselves have been guilty of both.

(Image via Shutterstock)