Rep. Lauren Boebert Responds After Surveillance Video Shows Her Being Ejected from Musical
By Jack Davis
September 13, 2023 at 7:16am
Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado admits to having a great time watching the performance of “Beetlejuice” Sunday at a Denver theater, at least until she was forced to leave.
Boebert’s behavior at the performance came into question after The Denver Post reported that she and a male companion, apparently a date, were asked to leave the show because they were “causing a disturbance.”
“It’s true, I did thoroughly enjoy the AMAZING Beetlejuice at the Buell Theatre and I plead guilty to laughing and singing too loud! Everyone should go see it if you get the chance this week and please let me know how it ends!” Boebert wrote in a post on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
Denver Arts & Venues on Tuesday shared a security video compilation of a series of clips that show Boebert being spoken to in the theater, and then as she walked out. Most of the footage of Boebert walking out shows her with her companion, although at one point she turns to point at staff escorting her out.
After the couple left the theater, they are seen in the video holding hands, with Boebert periodically twirling under her companion’s arm. (In May, Boebert, 36, filed for divorce from her husband of 16 years.)
Drew Sexton, the manager of Boebert’s campaign, issued a statement in response.
“I can confirm the stunning and salacious rumors: in her personal time, Congresswoman Lauren Boebert is indeed a supporter of the performing arts (gasp!) and, to the dismay of a select few, enthusiastically enjoyed a weekend performance of ‘Beetlejuice,’” he wrote in a statement.
The statement said Boebert praised the “fantastic cast, tremendous visuals and plenty of loud laughs” and added “a gentle reminder to leave their phones outside of the venue.”
An incident report for the theater posted by the Colorado Sun, evidently written by an unidentified theater staffer, said that staff had “received three different complaints about the patrons sitting in Orch C Row E seats 1 and 2 that they were vaping, singing, causing a disturbance.”
“The patrons were not at their seats when we arrived, and we waited until they returned. Once the patrons returned, I informed them that our usher team had noticed vaping and also that they were causing a disturbance for the area with noise, singing, using their cell phone, and that they need to be respectful to their neighbors,” the report stated.
“Since, there was already multiple complaints, I informed the patrons that if there was another issue that they would be asked to leave. The patrons were argumentative. Saying they were in concert with everyone around them. I again informed them it was a group experience, and they would be asked to leave if they continued,” the report said
The report said that five minutes into the second act, there was a “complaint about the patrons being loud and at the time were recording.”
“I entered the house and told the patrons that I needed to speak to them outside the theatre,” the report said, noting that a supervisor was “inside the house and observing and accompanied me while I spoke to the patrons.”
“They told me they would not leave. I told them that they need to leave the theatre and if they do not, they will be trespassing. The patrons said they would not leave. I told them I would going to get Denver Police. They said go get them,” the report said.
However, the couple – who were not named in the report – left on their own, the report said.
“I speak to the patrons in the vestibule, again telling them they have to leave the property and they argue. They say stuff like ‘do you know who I am’ ‘I am on the board’ ‘I will be contacting the mayor,’” the report said.
The report said that after that, police shadowed the couple until they left.
Sexton denied the allegation that Boebert was vaping, and said she did take a picture, unaware photography was not allowed.
Boebert, a conservative known for her support for the Second Amendment, narrowly won re-election in the 2022 midterms. Like the rest of the House, she is up for re-election again in 2024.