Minneapolis club forced to apologize for canceling Latin Heritage Month event to host Dave Chappelle’s official afterparty: ‘Sorry… but we needed the money!’
Minneapolis club forced to apologize for canceling Latin Heritage Month event for Dave Chappelle’s official afterparty: ‘Sorry… but we needed the money!’
- Icehouse canceled the Noche Chingona event in Minneapolis on September 23
- Fans were furious that they had been pushed aside for ‘Mr. TERF’Dave Chappelle
- Icehouse stands by the decision and says it was purely financial
A Minneapolis nightclub has been forced to apologize for its last-minute cancellation of a Latinx event for high bidder Dave Chappelle and his official show after-party.
Icehouse was scheduled to host the Noche Chingona party on September 23 for DJs TaliaKnight and queenDuin. The event is held monthly at Ice House and tickets cost $5.
At the last minute, this month’s was canceled to make way for a complete buyout of the venue.
Icehouse’s owners said they offered the Noche Chingona team compensation and an alternative venue, and apologized for the last-minute cancellation.
Dave Chappelle (seen last year on a different show) returned to Minneapolis this week for his fall run
Noche Chingona, a regular dance party, was canceled at Icehouse to make way for Chappelle and his afterparty
Outraged: Fans of the event were furious that the venue was canceled to make way for Chappelle, and was almost canceled last year due to his trans jokes
It later emerged that the club had been bought out by Chappelle’s show for an official afterparty.
His critics, still reeling from the LGBTQ jokes he made in his Netflix stand-up, were furious that he was the replacement.
They vented their anger online, along with Noche Chingona fans, who were furious that the event was canceled during ‘Latinx Heritage Month’ – also known as National Hispanic Heritage Month.;
They took to social media to complain, calling Chappelle a ‘TERF’ and condemning Icehouse for the decision.
Although he apologizes, Icehouse supports the move.
Icehouse is a bar, restaurant and club in the city. She stands by the decision to cancel the event
In a statement, Icehouse explained its reliance on events like private parties β especially after COVID shutdowns
‘Organizing an event is never an easy decision and one we never take lightly or make use of on a regular basis. Why did we do this?
‘As with many music venues across the country, revenues have still not recovered from COVID and finances remain a nightmarish struggle.
The decision was made to accept a booking for a private party to keep the lights on and for that reason alone.
βThe private bookings ensure that venues can sustain themselves and continue diverse programming,β the venue said on its Instagram page.
Chappelle played the Xcel Energy Center to mark the start of his fall slate of shows.
Last year, the venue where his show was held in Minneapolis succumbed to pressure to cancel him and pulled his show at the last minute amid an uproar over his transgender jokes.
The show was moved to another location and was a resounding success.
The venue said corporate buyouts like Chappelle’s were needed to ‘keep the lights on’