On Sunday night, Rep. Lauren Boebert and her date were escorted out of Denver’s Buell Theater after other patrons complained about her behavior during a performance of “Beetlejuice.” As The Denver Post reports, the pair were originally given a warning at the play’s intermission after other theatergoers complained about their causing a disturbance. Theater officials later removed Boebert and her date after Boebert was caught illegally videotaping the performance.
The biggest complaint was that the two had been vaping during the performance. According to Boebert’s campaign manager, the representative wasn’t vaping. Instead, he told The Washington Post that there might have been “a misunderstanding from someone sitting near her” because of the “heavy fog machines” used during the show.
Now an extended video of Boebert’s actions inside the theater makes it clear there really was a heavy fog machine—named Lauren Boebert. And she kept on making the fog, even when a pregnant woman seated directly behind her complained.
As the video shows, other patrons at the play were frequently laughing, occasionally applauding, and sometimes singing along with the show. However, what they weren’t doing was producing clouds of vape fumes and apparently recording long sections of the play. The video shows Boebert almost constantly in motion, talking and shifting in her seat, with the theater camera picking up regular flashes as she uses both a vape and her phone.
Around the 1:13 mark in the video, the woman seated Boebert can be seen leaning forward, likely asking her to stop vaping or otherwise disturbing the performance. Boebert turns her head slightly, then keeps on puffing. At the four-minute mark, during the intermission, a theater official can be seen talking to Boebert. Finally, just before six minutes in, the woman behind Boebert gives up and leaves. At this point, Boebert is still clearly talking and also openly filming the performance. About 10 seconds later on the video, theater officials show up to help Boebert find the way to the exit, but not without an extended argument.
In large part, Boebert’s date seems to sit stiffly through her shifting, talking, vaping, phone use, etc. During the visit from the theater official he seems extremely intent on whatever is in the bag of snacks in his lap. However, at around 1:50 he does seem to engage in a public display of … does that count as affection?
Just about everyone has been in this situation at some point. There’s always someone being obnoxious at just about any public event, and for someone who laid out $129 for a theater ticket hoping to see a well-reviewed show, ending up behind a jackass who can’t stop talking, gesturing, lifting her phone up to snap photos, slumping forward, flopping back, apparently dancing in her seat, and generally just wiggling around constantly … is frustrating as hell.
But the woman behind Boebert was pregnant. She asked the Colorado congresswoman—who claims to be concerned about such things—to stop vaping in the theater. Boebert ignored her.
In Colorado, it is legal for adults to use both tobacco and marijuana oil vape cartridges. However, it is illegal to vape indoors except in businesses that hold a “marijuana hospitality” license. The Buell Theater explicitly prohibits vaping except in designated areas.
And then Boebert, through her spokesperson, lied about it. Also, what Boebert did is illegal, though granted it is a picayune law that is rarely if ever charged. On that point, Boebert is in the clear. After all, it’s not like she’s Hunter Biden.
