Alt-Right Provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos' Chicago Show Cancelled

CHICAGO, IL — The Patio Theater in the Portage Park neighborhood of Chicago cancelled a planned speech by former Breitbart editor and alt-right rabble-rouser Milo Yiannopoulos following fierce backlash and planned protests.

“We have heard the voices of our patrons and neighbors," the theater said in a statement announcing the cancellation of the Nov. 13 show, which was to be part of Yiannopoulos' "Troll Academy Tour."

"Patio Theater is committed to promoting and supporting diversity and culture, but spares no expense to ensure the safety of our staff, patrons and community at large,” according to the statement, which noted that the opinions expressed by performers do not necessarily reflect its views. "We are a multicultural, non-political entity providing entertainment to a multitude of audiences."

The operator of the Patio Theater, Charlie Burns, told Patch the biggest factor in the decision to cancel the event was the "possibility of conflict between patrons and protesters."

Yiannopoulos resigned as Breitbart technology editor in February after a video emerged showing him appear to support pedophilia, and his relationship with white nationalist elements was documented in a BuzzFeed News investigation earlier this month. Last month, he cancelled an allegedly planned "Free Speech Week" event at the University of California, Berkeley. The school's chancellor suggested the purported plans were "political theater," according to the Daily Californian.

The planned event would have marked the first time Yiannopoulos has appeared in public since protesters interrupted an interview with him at DePaul University last May.

Nearly 400 tickets had been sold to the show before it was cancelled Wednesday, according to operators of the theater, and more than 300 people had already signed up to protest the event, according to the Sun-Times. Refunds will be provided.

Burns previously said the theater's management had not been aware that Yiannopoulos had booked the space, as it was rented through his publisher.

"It was a non-political decision to rent the theater to his publisher's corporation," Burns told Chicagoist. He explained the theater contacted local officials, who "had no negative feedback."

The Patio Theater show is the second date to be nixed from Yiannopoulos' tour, after a theater in Kansas City on Friday announced the cancellation of a show planned for Nov. 5.

The Folly Theater said it had been "unfamiliar" with Yiannopoulos before booking him, apologized for not conducting the "appropriate due diligence," and promised to review its booking practices to prevent future such incidence.

The "Troll Academy Tour" has been reduced to eight cities, and shows at six of them will take place at "secret locations," according to the tour's website.

_{Top photo: Milo Yiannopoulous at a news conference in New York, Feb. 21, 2017 | Mary Altaffer | Associated Press}