Pop Goes The News – U.S. comedian Andrew Schulz claims Toronto’s Massey Hall pulled the plug on his show because the venue didn’t like the nature of his material.

In a video he shared on social media on Nov. 17, Schulz said: “We had the show locked in and then Massey Hall hit me up a few weeks ago and they said ‘Hey, we have to cancel your shows.’ I go, ‘Why?’ They go, ‘Well, we looked you up and you tell inappropriate jokes and we no longer want inappropriate jokes on our stage, so we have to cancel your shows.’”

On Nov. 18, Schulz tweeted “there’s a bunch of [pussies] on the board of Massey Hall that thought my ‘Netflix special was too controversial.’ I don’t want to do venues that censor comedy. So we’re doing a bigger theatre.”

Schulz is scheduled to perform at the city-owned Meridian Hall, a theatre about a kilometre away with roughly 400 more seats than Massey Hall. The only Canadian stop on The Infamous Tour is scheduled for March 4 and 5.

In his video message, Schulz claims the first show sold out in seven minutes and a second show sold one in an hour. (As of Nov. 20, there were only 20 tickets left for the first show and fewer than 100 for the second.)

A third show was added to meet demand. “It turns out the great people of Toronto enjoy some inappropriate jokes,” he said. “Fuck you, Massey Hall.”

The Massey Hall calendar of events currently has no shows listed on March 4 and 5.

Mima Agozzino, communications manager for Massey Hall, did not respond when contacted Saturday.

Schulz, 38, hosts two podcasts and had a Netflix special, Schulz Saves America, in 2020. He has 1.7 million subscribers on YouTube and 1.3 million Instagram followers.

In a 2019 review of the Nasty Show at Montreal’s JFL festival, PopGoesTheNews.com described Schulz as the highlight and said he is “a strong writer with solid timing and deserves a bigger spotlight at next year’s JFL.”