Iliza Schlesinger's Women-Only Show Draws Lawsuit
by EG
Comedian Iliza Shlesinger, whose Netflix stand-up specials include Iliza Shlesinger: War Paint, is being sued by a man who was denied entry to one of her shows. A lawyer for 21-year-old George St. George contends that Schlesinger's women-only shows are akin to racial discrimination in the South.
A 21-year-old California man is suing Iliza Shlesinger after being turned away from a girls-only show in a hyperbole-laden lawsuit that begins with a quote from George Orwell's Animal Farm.
"All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others," writes attorney Alfred Rava, before beginning a 14-page complaint that says his client is a victim of the comedian's "war on men."
George St. George asks the court to imagine the uproar and protests that would follow if comedian Andrew Dice Clay, who is described in the complaint as "the bane of feminists," hosted a comedy show that prohibited women from entering.
Men in Texas were similarly offended in May when Alamo Drafthouse held a women-only screening of Wonder Woman. Although the theater didn't actually turn away any men, it reportedly did agree to make some concessions in response to an official complaint filed with the City of Austin Equal Employment & Fair Housing Office.
It's worth noting that San Diego-based attorney Rava has built a career on suing companies for gender discrimination, including filing a class action against the Oakland A's for giving away plaid hats to women at a Mother's Day game in 2004.
Here, St. George says he and a friend bought tickets for a Nov. 13 show at Largo at The Coronet that was advertised as "Girls Night in with Iliza — No Boys Allowed" and was informed they would only be allowed in if they agreed to sit in the back row of the theater "because of their sex."
The men decided to leave to grab a bite to eat before returning for the show, and Rava compares what happened when they returned to the racial segregation experienced across the South prior to the civil rights movement. The female employee with whom they had spoken earlier told them Shlesinger and the theater had since decided only women would be admitted to the show and they'd be given a refund.
Get the rest of the story at The Hollywood Reporter.
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