The Springer Opera House’s Producing Artistic Director, Paul Pierce, appears to have taken down his own personal Facebook account today.

The action follows his release of a new statement regarding the Springer’s recent cancellation of a performance by The Hodgetwins — a wildly successful comedy duo known for their conservative-valued humor. 

The new statement, released by WTVM, features Pierce admitting that the Springer cancelled The Hodgetwins performance because of the content of their act. 

“Some of the content that these performers used and the part that people were alerting us to was some of it that could easily be considered as anti-LGBTQ and more specifically anti-trans,” Pierce said in an interview with WTVM this evening on July 10, 2022. 

This new statement does appear to completely contradict the written public statement released by The Springer through its Facebook page just yesterday on July 9, 2022, which stated, “It is true that the Hodgetwins' frequent targeting of LGBTQ persons in their comedy routines does not reflect the values and mission of the Springer Opera House. But the duo's positions on public policy are not a factor in this decision.”

The new statement was released following the leak of a Springer employee’s email stating the Springer had cancelled the performance, “because of the content of the show.” The leak of this email immediately caused the Springer to appear to be caught in a lie. It now appears that the Springer may be attempting to back-peddle their original statement in light of the email’s leak. 

Shortly after the airing of WTVM's interview containing Pierce’s new statement, Pierce appears to have taken down his own personal Facebook account. Several online searches for Paul Pierce’s previous account  have yielded no results at the time of this article’s writing. 

At the onset of the online backlash regarding the Springer’s initial public statement made on July 9, 2022, Pierce requested that the Columbus Police Department post vehicles outside of the Springer to provide physical security, which were provided. 

It is also worth noting that Paul Pierce publicly spoke out against the ownership of firearms in May during No Shame Theatre — a weekly “free speech” performance event hosted by the venue. Pierce has also been a vocal advocate for the “defund the police” movement, citing police brutality.

To our knowledge, no such altercations warranting Pierce’s request for police security  have been reported at the Springer at the time of this article’s writing. It appears to be a quiet night at the Springer full of  contemplation and reflection by their board and senior staff.

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