Well-adjusted man with good priorities sues Iliza Shlesinger over women-only comedy show
As 2017 draws to a close and hope for a fresh start hums in the background of our pop-cultural consciousness, we regret to inform you that the #Meninists are at it again. Rolling Stone reports that one particularly well-adjusted man by the name of George St. George has sued comedian Iliza Shlesinger for denying him entry to her November 13 comedy show “Girls’ Night In,” which was advertised as being for women only.
The show in question, a one-night-only Planned Parenthood benefit at the Largo in Los Angeles, was described as “a hybrid stand-up show and interactive discussion between Iliza and the women in the audience aimed at giving women a place to vent in a supportive, fun and inclusive environment” on the venue website. George, seeing an opportunity to turn an empowering experience into an exercise in petty contrarianism, bought two tickets. Upon their arrival, he was told that he and his (male) friend could sit in the back row, but the pair was ultimately denied entry to the show. According to the 21-year-old, this is a violation of his civil rights “akin to the injustices perpetrated during the Civil Rights Movement,” as Rolling Stone puts it.
Adding exasperated sigh to dramatic eye roll, this isn’t the first time George has set up a stunt like this: He’s been the plaintiff in several lawsuits, each the legal equivalent of throwing oneself onto the floor of a busy supermarket and throwing a temper tantrum, according to Variety. In fact, his lawyer, Alfred Rava—a former secretary of the MRA group National Coalition for Men—has filed more than 150 lawsuits in California challenging the practice of running “ladies’ nights” specials at bars and other businesses.
So while The A.V. Club has had a sometimes-complicated history with Shlesinger’s comedy—we criticized her last special for containing an unsettling impression of a black woman, and reported on some controversial comments she made about her fellow female comics—we would never wish this sort of men’s rights nonsense onto her either. Hopefully, the guys who filed this lawsuit can meet up with the guy who sent a letter to the mayor of Austin, Texas complaining abut a similar all-female screening of Wonder Woman, and that unhappy trio can all give each other the attention they clearly so desperately need.