Hospitals of Regina Foundation apologizes for Rob Schneider jokes

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The Hospitals of Regina Foundation has reiterated its “sincere and unconditional apology” for a standup comedy set performed by former Saturday Night Live actor — and well-known anti-vaxxer — Rob Schneider at a recent fundraising event.

Schneider was advertised as the main entertainment act for The Four Seasons Ball, a sold-out fundraiser hosted by the foundation on June 1 at the Conexus Arts Centre.

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In recent years, the former SNL performer and long-time Hollywood actor has become an outspoken critic of vaccines — specifically since the COVID-19 pandemic — and has performed material including jokes targeting LGBTQ2+ and trans people.

According to public accounts of the evening shared on social media, Schneider’s comedy set included jokes made at the expense of the LGBTQ2+ community. He also made several jokes about vaccination policies and the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to witnesses, Schneider was roundly booed during his performance, which ended much earlier than planned.

“While 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 content, positions and opinions expressed during Mr. Schneider’s set do not align with the values of our foundation and team,” the Hospitals of Regina Foundation said in a statement.

“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.”

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The foundation said a decision was made during Schneider’s set to ask him “to end his performance earlier than intended, to which he agreed and immediately left the stage.”

The foundation said it offered “an unconditional apology” to its guests and community immediately after Schneider’s performance.

In addition to appearing on Saturday Night Live for four seasons from 1990-94, Schneider has since starred in such Hollywood films as Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo, The Hot Chick, The Animal, and Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo.

The Four Seasons Ball raised more than $350,000 for Regina hospitals.

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