Newsweek: Random person walks out of a play, allegedly telling a staff member because it was 'about gays'

Brett T. | 8:30 PM on March 14, 2022

Newsweek has changed its Twitter bio to read simply, “The freedom to disagree.” That makes it sound as if Newsweek is challenging the boundaries of the First Amendment or something, or speaking truth to power and standing up against the Biden administration’s TikTok propaganda videos. Of all the news that’s going on right now, Newsweek has chosen to publish a story about a totally random person — one person — who walked out of a local production of “Rent,” allegedly because it was “about gays.” This anonymous theatergoer apparently told that to a staffer on his way out, and now it’s news.

Theatergoer walked out of "Rent" because the "show was about gays" https://t.co/NUiMgQVNM0

— Newsweek (@Newsweek) March 14, 2022

Let’s see how much Newsweek had to pad this out to make a story:

Despite all its acclaim, a Leeds theatergoer was apparently unaware of the content of the play. On Saturday, during a matinee performance at The Carriagework Theatre put on by the Bite My Thumb theater company, an audience member left, according to Bite My Thumb.

The audience member left during the performance of “Today 4 U, Tomorrow 4 Me,” sung by the drag queen character Angel. The leaving theatergoer told a staff member they were leaving because “I didn’t realise this show was about gays.”

“All the cast, creatives and backstage crew of the production were utterly disgusted to hear about this display of small minded ignorance. As a theatre company, we purposely chose Rent to give a voice to the LGBTQ+ community and educate on the horrors of the AIDS epidemic,” Bite My Thumb said in a statement.

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Newsweek reached out to Bite My Thumb for additional information.