Rob Schneider has spent the past several years proudly flying the MAGA flag. He’s whitesplained civil rights to the late Rep. John Lewis, called the Covid vaccines “experimental gene therapy,” and blasted former employer SNL for the post-2016 election cold open where Kate McKinnon sang “Hallelujah” as Hillary Clinton. This is his brand and he’s not hiding it. But still, he was able to do stand up at a Canadian hospital fundraiser last week that simply entertained without going too far. Lol, just kidding. His set was so offensive that Schneider left the stage early amid booing from the audience, and the mortified hospital issued a statement denouncing Schneider’s material and apologizing to the audience:
Rob Schneider said he thinks cancel culture is “over” despite getting booed at his gig earlier this month.
The “Hot Chick” star, 60, was seen walking through the streets with a drink in hand when The New York Post caught up with him just before he left with friends.
When asked what he thinks of cancel culture, he told the cameraman, “It’s over.”
Schneider also teased his potential appearance in some of his friend Adam Sandler’s forthcoming sequel films, including “Happy Gilmore 2” and the possibility of a third installment in another Sandler franchise.
“There better be,” he said when asked if there might be a “Grown Ups 3” movie in the works, adding that he would be interested in starring.
On June 1, Schneider performed a comedy set at a hospital fundraiser in Canada, but guests weren’t exactly too happy with his alleged “transphobic, misogynistic and anti-vax” jokes.
“Everyone in the room was groaning, saying, ‘What is going on?’ Like, whispering to themselves,” guest Tynan Allan told the CBC earlier this week. “Not a single laugh at times.”
“It was just very apparent how uncomfortable everyone felt and how unacceptable the things he was talking about were,” Allan continued.
The hospital later issued a statement condemning Schneider’s jokes.
“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.
“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.”
Elsewhere in his comments to CBC, attendee Tynan Allan pointed out that Schneider has been blatantly “transphobic, misogynistic, anti-vax” for years, so how did he even get booked? While I think the hospital did everything right in the aftermath — swiftly apologizing to their guests and denouncing the “jokes” — I also think it’s a fair question for Allan to raise. My hope is that Schneider is so D List by now that the hospital only somewhat vaguely knew who he was. (I know, explanation but not an excuse, and certainly not one Adam Sandler could use.) Schneider’s views are deplorable, yet there is a trend among comedians of a certain generation across the political spectrum, who are so indignant that they can’t just make fun of people anymore. Aside from being mean-spirited, it’s also creatively lazy. The ones protesting so much now are doing so out of insecurity; they’ve realized their talents were more limited than they thought, once you take away the easiness of cheap shots and punching down.
Scott Yamano/Netflix, Carlos Tischler/Eyepix Group/Avalon and Getty