Director Michael Rapoport from 'Hard Lovin Woman' poses at the Tribeca Film Festival. Photo by Getty Images' Mike Coppola
MADISON, WI (WSAU) – A popular Madison comedy club has canceled Thursday night’s sold-out show featuring a celebrity comedian.
According to a post on X, which was confirmed by comedian Michael Rapaport, who is Jewish and has been a well-known actor for decades starring in popular shows and movies such as Deep Blue Sea, Next Friday, The Simpsons, Only Murders in the Building, Friends, and most recently Amazon Prime’s hit show Fallout, was supposed to take the stage at 7:30 at the Comedy On State venue, which is only a short walk from the site of the UW-Madison student encampment, but due to safety concerns, the comedy club has canceled the event, sparking outrage from antisemitism groups and speakers across the country.
In an email that was sent out to ticket holders and released by local radio host Dan O’Donnell, the Comedy on State venue said, “In light of the current environment downtown, marked by escalating protests and the continuous nature of the dialogue surrounding current affairs, we have made the difficult decision to cancel the Thursday show with Michael Rapaport. The safety and well-being of our audience members, staff, and community are our top priorities, and we believe this decision is in the best interest of all involved.”
Rapaport has been an outspoken supporter of Israel as their war on Hamas continues into its seventh month, and one of the most notable organizations speaking out on the canceled event is the non-partisan Stop Antisemitism group, which re-posted a post on X saying, “Cancelling a Jew is reminiscent of 1939 Nazi Germany. Antisemitism is skyrocketing in America,” and then continued to call Wisconsin representatives such as Gov. Tony Evers and Senators Ron Johnson and Tammy Baldwin to join them in calling for the venue to reverse their decision.
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, about 20 tents remain on the Library Mall, and student protesters met with UW-Madison leaders Thursday morning to discuss ending the protests and assured the protesters that the police would not take any action over the next 24 hours on the matter as negotiations continue despite the tents violating Wisconsin state law and UW-Madison camping regulations.
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