{"id":31664,"date":"2023-09-16T21:24:09","date_gmt":"2023-09-17T03:24:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/lauren-boebert-apologizes-after-being-removed-from-beetlejuice-performance\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T01:44:32","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T07:44:32","slug":"lauren-boebert-apologizes-after-being-removed-from-beetlejuice-performance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/lauren-boebert-apologizes-after-being-removed-from-beetlejuice-performance\/","title":{"rendered":"Lauren Boebert apologizes after being removed from \u2018Beetlejuice\u2019 performance"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><figure class=\"wp-block-image naviga-inline-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/imengine.public.prod.dur.navigacloud.com\/?uuid=4b62708c-52dd-5af1-aa41-2282b083e686&amp;function=cover&amp;type=preview&amp;source=false&amp;width=2000\" width=\"1009\" height=\"682\" alt=\"Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., a member of the House Freedom Caucus, speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, July 14, 2023. (Patrick Semansky\/The Associated Press)\" class=\"naviga-image\" loading=\"lazy\"><figcaption><span class=\"caption\">Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., a member of the House Freedom Caucus, speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, July 14, 2023. (Patrick Semansky\/The Associated Press)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<p>EEmbattled U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert issued an apology Friday evening for her behavior during a performance of \u201cBeetlejuice\u201d in Denver on Sunday, saying she \u201cfell short of my values.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Republican congresswoman, who was ejected from the musical along with a male companion, also apologized for misleading reporters when her campaign\u2019s manager told news outlets she hadn\u2019t been vaping inside a theater at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. Video obtained by 9News through an open records request refuted that claim.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe past few days have been difficult and humbling, and I\u2019m truly sorry for the unwanted attention my Sunday evening in Denver has brought to the community,\u201d Boebert\u2019s statement said. \u201cWhile none of my actions or words as a private citizen that night were intended to be malicious or meant to cause harm, the reality is they did and I regret that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She added: \u201cThere\u2019s no perfect blueprint for going through a public and difficult divorce, which over the past few months has made for a challenging personal time for me and my entire family. I\u2019ve tried to handle it with strength and grace as best I can, but I simply fell short of my values on Sunday. That\u2019s unacceptable and I\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Boebert filed for divorce from her husband, Jayson, in April. A different man accompanied her to the \u201cBeetlejuice\u201d performance Sunday. The pair were captured on surveillance video holding hands as they left the Buell Theater. The video also appeared to show Boebert\u2019s male companion groping the congresswoman\u2019s breasts during the performance.<\/p>\n<p>Theater officials told The Colorado Sun on Monday that two patrons were \u201cescorted from the theater\u201d Sunday, but declined to say who they were, citing privacy concerns. However, surveillance video obtained by The Colorado Sun and other news outlets, as well as Boebert\u2019s 2024 reelection campaign manager, confirmed it was the congresswoman.<\/p>\n<p>Brian Kitts, director of marketing and communications for Denver Arts and Venues, said the patrons were talking loudly, vaping and using cameras during the performance. They were warned during an intermission, but the behavior continued into the second act, at which point the two were asked to leave.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video wp-block-embed-youtube naviga-video-embed\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/aPzf7EXVa6w\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>As they were being escorted from the property, the two people said \u201cstuff like \u2018do you know who I am,\u2019 \u2018I am on the board,\u2019 (and) \u2018I will be contacting the mayor,\u2019\u201d according to a security incident report obtained by The Sun from the city through an open records request.<\/p>\n<p>Boebert\u2019s campaign manager, Drew Sexton, told reporters earlier this week that Boebert wasn\u2019t vaping, but didn\u2019t deny that she was using her phone and being boisterous. That was disproven by the video obtained by 9News, which clearly showed the congresswoman exhaling smoke or vapor.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhether it was the excitement of seeing a much-anticipated production or the natural anxiety of being in a new environment, I genuinely did not recall vaping that evening when I discussed the night\u2019s events with my campaign team while confirming my enthusiasm for the musical,\u201d Boebert\u2019s statement on Friday night said. \u201cRegardless of my belief, it\u2019s clear now that was not accurate. It was not my or my campaign\u2019s intention to mislead, but we do understand the nature of how this looks. We know we will have to work to earn your trust back and it may not happen overnight, but we will do it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Boebert said she has \u201clearned some humbling lessons these past few days\u201d \u2014 a complete departure from how her staffers brushed off the situation earlier in the week.<\/p>\n<p>The bombastic congresswoman, who has been at the center of several controversies since being elected in 2020, nearly lost her reelection bid last year to Democrat Adam Frisch, a former Aspen city councilman, in Colorado\u2019s 3rd Congressional District, which is traditionally a Republican stronghold.<\/p>\n<p>The 3rd District is expected to be a battleground in 2024, which Democrats and Republicans each committing resources to the district, which spans across the Western Slope into Pueblo and southeast Colorado.<\/p>\n<p>The Sun on Monday began asking questions about Boebert\u2019s behavior at the \u201cBeetlejuice\u201d performance.  Anthony Fakhoury, Boebert\u2019s congressional spokesman, said \u201cthere\u2019s no comments from our office regarding anything that occurred.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On Tuesday evening, Sexton confirmed that Boebert had been ejected from the musical, joking that he could \u201cconfirm the stunning and salacious rumors: in her personal time, Congresswoman Lauren Boebert is indeed a supporter of the performing arts (gasp!).\u201d Security camera footage from the Buell Theater started being posted by news outlets that night.<\/p>\n<p>Boebert\u2019s staff also arranged and then canceled a meeting with a Colorado Sun reporter in Washington this week.<\/p>\n<p>Boebert\u2019s apology Friday isn\u2019t the first she\u2019s issued.<\/p>\n<p>She apologized in July after being seen throwing away a tribute pin for one of the children killed in the Uvalde school shooting. In November 2021, Boebert issued an apology for anti-Muslim remarks she made in reference to Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota Democrat who is Muslim.<\/p>\n<p>Beyond the \u201cBeetlejuice\u201d incident, Boebert has been in the news this week for joining other Freedom Caucus members in threatening to hold up passage of federal budget bills that would prevent a government shutdown.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSpending is the most important issue (for my constituents) right now,\u201d Boebert told The Sun in Washington. \u201cEverywhere that I go people are having a hard time buying groceries, affording gas, getting to work, paying for their child care, affording the homes that they live in\u2014 or the homes that they would like to live in. We have got to get the spending under control in Washington, D.C.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She\u2019s also pushing for a vote to impeach President Joe Biden in the House.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m ready for a straight up and down vote on the floor: yes or no, impeach Joe Biden,\u201d Boebert told reporters Tuesday after the Freedom Conference news conference. \u201cMy vote is \u2018yes.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em id=\"emphasis-25f3d39d0e7e6e1b001afae98743ea86\">Colorado Sun editor David Krause contributed to this report. Colorado Sun correspondent Sandra Fish also contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Representative sorry actions or words caused harm: \u2018I simply fell short of my values\u2019 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":31665,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[28,29,367],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-31664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter","tag-u-s-rep-lauren-boebert"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31664"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31664\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":81519,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31664\/revisions\/81519"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31664"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=31664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}