A Pittsburgh comedy club is facing backlash on social media after admitting a patron dressed as Nazi Germany dictator Adolf Hitler on Halloween.
Steel City Cellar, a new comedy club on Pittsburgh's North Side, had its opening night on Halloween. An image circulating on social media shows a club patron dressed as Hitler, with users saying she was not removed from the club despite her costume.
The club responded the following day and acknowledged the incident, though social media users have continued to denounce the venue for allowing the woman inside.
Pittsburgh comedy club patron celebrates Halloween in Hitler costume
Over the days following Halloween evening, social media users circulated a picture showing a woman dressed as Hitler. In the image, she is dressed in a tan uniform with a swastika on one arm, as well
as a mustache painted on her upper lip.
The woman, users said, was visiting Steel City Cellar. The club is located below Max's Allegheny Tavern, a German restaurant that opened in 1903.
Users said the woman, along with her partner who was allegedly dressed as Lindsay Clancy, a Massachusetts woman accused of killing her three children, were not kicked out and that comedians made jokes referencing their costumes throughout the night.
Pittsburgh comedy club responds to Hitler Halloween costume controversy
In a Nov. 1 Facebook post, Steel City Cellar confirmed that a patron had visited their venue on Halloween dressed as Hitler.
"This individual should have been immediately removed from the venue because (Nazis) have no place in our club," they said in the post. "Halloween is a night when people push boundaries, but context doesn’t erase the impact of (Nazi) imagery. Whatever the intent, allowing that costume into our venue was inconsistent with the welcoming environment we want to create for our audience and performers."
They added that going forward, anyone wearing "(Nazi) symbols or other hate symbols, regardless of intent, will be denied entry."
Hitler Halloween at Pittsburgh comedy club sparks social media controversy
Following the post from Steel City Cellar, social media users across platforms continued to lambaste the club for admitting the woman and her partner, with some users saying they had been blocked by the club on Instagram after raising concerns about the incident there.
By Nov. 1 evening, users found the woman's Instagram profile, which had been set to private. In her bio, she defended the outfit as "a Halloween costume, nothing more," saying she had been "double dog dared" to wear it. Screenshots of her profile were shared across social media.
As of Nov. 2, Steel City Cellar had a 5.0 rating on Google Reviews, with the most recent review published on Oct. 28. On Yelp, the comedy club's rating had dropped to 1.7, with multiple reviewers raising concerns about the situation with the costume.
Finch Walker is the Pittsburgh Connect Reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Contact Walker at FWalker@usatodayco.com. Instagram: @finchwalker_. X: @_finchwalker.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Pittsburgh comedy club under fire over Nazi Halloween costume incident
