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The October 10th booking has been cancelled, more details will follow when possible. — Princessonwhyte (@princessonwhyte) October 9, 2019

In an email Wednesday, Levant said the event is still on and that he’s been in ongoing discussions with Princess owner Mike Brar.

He added that The Rebel would hire security for the event “to handle any Antifa types.”

Princess Theatre did not respond to requests for comment.

Users on Twitter expressed their disapproval with the Princess Theatre hosting the event and encouraged patrons to lobby the cinema to cancel the event.

One such person was advocate Bridget Stirling, the founder of Hate Free Yeg. She said that private businesses have no obligation to platform groups like The Rebel.

Stirling also speculated that The Rebel’s booking of the venue may have been a calculated attempt to stir controversy and worried about the potential for conflict surrounding the event.

“If the event is cancelled, this might lead to a bunch of angry Rebel Media supporters being denied entry to the facility and then taking that anger out on workers,” she said.

Another book launch event is scheduled for Oct. 15 at Calgary’s Plaza Theatre, which is also owned by Brar.

jherring@postmedia.com

twitter.com/jasonfherring