Courtney Pong, owner of the Rozzie Square Theatre in Boston, shut down a comedy event at her club because she didn't like the "misogynistic" tone of the comedian's jokes.

What are the details?

Pong shared the experience Saturday on Twitter.

Pong wrote, "Tonight I shut down a string of misogynistic stand up comics. As in, I walked on stage in the middle of one of them talking, addressed the audience, offered a full refund, told them it would not be tolerated here, and pulled the show ... and its comics from our theater immediately. Lights on, go home. I have never felt more alive than right now."

A slew of people on the internet, however, didn't take too kindly to Pong policing comedy, even if it was at her own club.



Some responses blasting Pong, according to Chortle:

Is this satire?

I love it when someone decides what's offensive and what I can listen to said no one ever.

An insane thing to do.

Oh look a hypocrite woman who doesn't understand comedy or how to live a life where she just shuts the f*** up

I'm a very liberal person and find this censorship and de-platforming come from my side of the aisle gross, especially in comedy. In a free society we need to be free to express ideas. All ideas. Not just the ones agreed upon.

You're actually feeling empowered by this! Instead of enjoying a comedy show, and taking what they're saying AS JOKES, you're getting a power trip on "shutting down a show"... which the only people you hurt were the audience!

Some responses supporting Pong:

I love when people don't understand that a woman doesn't have to sit back and take it while a bunch of unfunny comedians make sexist jokes in the club she owns.

Amazing. These days you rarely see folks standing up for people over profit, so what you did was HUGE, unexpected and sadly unusual.

Rock. On. Stopping that nonsense in the moment is -so much- more powerful than waiting. Not everyone can do that, and no one owes that to the world. Three cheers to you for doing it when you could!

Hey one of my worst public experiences was at a comedy show. No one stood up but me and another girl who were promptly violently threatened for the remainder of the show. She left; I had to stay for extra credit for class…Feel like I regained a little bit of my power just reading this. Truly, a boss bitch move.

What else?



Pong told Universal Hub that the decision to shut down the show came after one of the comedians allegedly began making jokes about the "segregated" black and white audience, and reportedly used the phrase "this b****" on several occasions.

There were about 17 people in the crowd, according to the outlet, of which 13 were the comedian's friends.

"[I realized], 'Wait a minute, I own this place,'" she recalled thinking.

The outlet reported that she "rang a loud bell" and entered the stage, declaring the night's conclusion. Pong told the audience that the jokes were "not OK" and "not who we are." She went on to refund the four paying customers their entry fees.

She later tweeted about the backlash she received for silencing the offending jokes.

"Yesterday at the exact time my company was being put under fire for standing up for what we believe in (which is that women are not second class citizens) I was too busy to see the initial shots thrown because I was in a ... workshop teaching 25 Asian American women that improv and comedy is a place for them even if it doesn't look like it," she wrote. "Yet."