Rob Schneider is a common fixture in many Adam Sandler movies, but a recent stand-up set of his was in need of an entirely different “Sandman.”
Schneider, 60, was asked to end his set at the Hospital of Regina Foundation’s Four Seasons Ball on Saturday, June 1, due to transphobic and anti-vax jokes, according to multiple reports.
“Everyone in the room was groaning, saying, ‘What is going on?’ Like whispering to themselves. Not a single laugh at times,” a witness told the CBC. “It was just very apparent how uncomfortable everyone felt and how unacceptable the things he was talking about were.”
The Hospital of Regina Foundation shared in a press release that Schneider’s set did not “align with the values of our foundation.”
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“We recognize that in a free and democratic society individuals are entitled to their views and opinions and that comedy is intended to be edgy,” the statement read. “We do not condone, accept, endorse or share Mr. Schneider’s positions, as expressed during his comedy set and acknowledge that in this instance the performance did not meet the expectations of our audience and our team.”
They added, “A decision was, therefore, made to ask Mr. Schneider to end his performance earlier than intended, to which he agreed and immediately left the stage. An unconditional apology was offered right after to our guests and our community. We reiterate this sincere and unconditional apology today.”
Attendees at the charity event took to Reddit to criticize Schneider’s conduct that evening.
One user wrote that “it was awkward as hell,” adding that the Hot Chick star “went on about how ‘dumb’ women are in an audience that was about 50% women, made anti-trans, anti-science jokes.”
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“He then moved to transphobia saying that ‘back in my day we liked our women without penises’ and told an anecdote about how he told his son, who is ‘bad at sports’ to say he is a girl to get a better chance,” another added.
Despite how it ended, the Foundation shared that event raised over $350,000 for medical facilities.
Schneider has increasingly alienated himself from the public since his days starring on Saturday Night Live and in the Deuce Bigalow franchise. The Canadian charitable organization was not the first group to ask Schneider to cut a set short. Politico reported that Schneider’s set for prominent Republicans in late 2023 was axed after a few minutes and resulted in an apology from GOP organizers. The comic denied the report when asked about it by TMZ.
“I’m not changing my material or apologizing for my jokes to anybody,” he said.. “Enough with this woke bull—, America’s sick of it.”
