Less than 48 hours before congressional candidate Melat Kiros and leftist livestreamer Hasan Piker were set to take the stage at the Ogden Theatre, the venue canceled the event due to “pressure and concern from the local community.”
A venue leader emailed the Kiros campaign on Friday morning to say the event was off.
“Due to significant pressure and concern from the local community who have reached out to our leadership, we have made the decision to cancel hosting this event at The Ogden,” wrote Julie Robinson, regional director of special events for AEG Presents, in an email shared with Denverite.
Several Jewish groups have accused Piker of antisemitism, while he generally contends he’s only a critic of Zionism and Israel’s government.
The email from the Ogden cited the venue’s contractual option to cancel the event “with or without cause and without further liability.”
Don Strasburg, president of AEG’s Rocky Mountain and Pacific Northwest Regional Office, declined to comment and referred Denverite to a spokesperson who didn’t respond.
The rally was moved to the Capitol steps and drew hundreds of people — but the late change to an outdoor venue had an impact. Piker backed out over safety concerns, as did state Sen. Julie Gonzales.
Instead, Piker spoke for hours on a livestream from Denver and was later joined by Kiros.
"This was an actual act of suppression," Kiros told Piker during the stream.
Kiros and DeGette trade accusations
On social media and at the rally, Kiros blamed Rep. Diana DeGette, the city’s longtime Democratic incumbent, for the cancellations at the Ogden and other venues.
In an Instagram post, Kiros alleged DeGette had “called up her donor class to silence us. The Ogden, Reelworks, Stanley Marketplace, all of them canceled our contracts at the last minute.”
DeGette's team sharply denied those claims.
“I can't believe I have to say this, but it's an absolute lie that I or my campaign had anything to do with her venue cancellations. She’s free to make her own mistakes, and campaigning with an infamous anti-semite who says he ‘hates this country’ and thinks we ‘deserved 9/11’ is a big one,” DeGette said in a written statement.
It continued: “The worst part is that Melat Kiros thinks voters are gullible enough to just believe whatever she says. Denver is smarter than that, and we won't be fooled."
Piker said that the U.S. “deserved 9/11” during a livestream in 2019, later conceding the comment was “inappropriate.” He has been accused of antisemitism by some Jewish organizations, including for his statements this year that he prefers Hamas to Israel because it is the “lesser evil.”
Piker contends that criticizing the Israeli government and its deadly military campaign in Gaza is anti-Zionist but not antisemitic.
Three venues canceled on Kiros
Kiros’ team argued the event was a success despite the changes.
“This week, ahead of a planned event with Hasan Piker and other Congressional candidates, three Denver venues canceled on the Kiros campaign at the last minute despite signing contracts to host the event, knowing exactly who was speaking. The Ogden owned by Phil Anschutz, a Republican mega donor who is now setting his eye towards meddling in Democratic races, forced his venue to cancel despite enthusiasm from the workers of the venue themselves,” the campaign wrote.
The Stanley Marketplace in Aurora cited security concerns for its cancellation, while ReelWorks pointed to HVAC issues, according to the Kiros campaign.
In a June 7 email, a representative for ReelWorks wrote that the building’s HVAC was “completely shot.”
“...(W)e have to have working AC to even be open, especially with our biggest events of the year weeks away. This project is set to start being dealt with on Wednesday and will take at least a week. With that, I regret to inform you that we can no longer host your event on Sunday,” a staffer wrote in an email shared with Denverite. “I apologize immensely, but as you can understand, this is completely out of my control.”
Tracks and ReelWorks did not respond to requests for comment.
The Kiros campaign pointed out that ReelWorks and Tracks, which share a building, both promoted events held over the weekend.
