- Rep. Lauren Boebert was escorted out of a performance of "Beetlejuice" in Denver over the weekend.
- Surveillance footage appears to show her giving the middle finger to an usher as she leaves the venue.
Newly released surveillance footage shows Rep. Lauren Boebert reacting angrily to an usher as she was being removed from a performance of the "Beetlejuice" musical in Denver, Colorado, for causing a "disturbance."
The footage, released by Denver Arts & Venues, a city and council agency responsible for running some of the state's venues, and later published by 9NEWS Denver, shows Boebert being removed from her seat.
It then shows Boebert leaving the venue, flanked by ushers. In one part of the footage, The Washington Post notes that the Colorado lawmaker appears to be giving the middle finger to an usher behind her, before turning around to say something to the venue's staff.
—Mike Sington (@MikeSington) September 13, 2023
According to incident reports filed by officials and initially obtained by the Denver Post, two members of the audience were asked to leave a performance on Sunday night at the Buell Theatre after causing a disturbance by singing, filming on their phones, and vaping.
The incident report said that the patrons were issued with a warning during the intermission after receiving three complaints from other theatergoers during the first act of the show.
They were eventually escorted out after receiving another complaint about five minutes into the second act for "being loud" and recording the performance on their phones.
An usher was quoted in the incident report as saying that the two patrons, one of whom was later confirmed as being Boebert, refused to leave after being asked.
"The patrons said they would not leave," the usher said, per the incident report. "I told them I would (be) going to get Denver Police. They said go get them."
The incident report said that the patrons shouted "stuff like 'do you know who I am,' 'I am on the board' (and) 'I will be contacting the mayor,'" on their way out of the venue.
Boebert later confirmed her attendance in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, in which she wrote: "It's true, I did thoroughly enjoy the AMAZING Beetlejuice at the Buell Theatre and I plead guilty to laughing and singing too loud! "
Her campaign manager, Drew Sexton, confirmed in a statement that Boebert was escorted out of the performance and that she had recorded parts of the performance on her phone but refuted some of the other allegations against her.
"I can confirm the stunning and salacious rumors: in her personal time, Congresswoman Lauren Boebert is indeed a supporter of the performing arts (gasp!) and, to the dismay of a select few, enthusiastically enjoyed a weekend performance of Beetlejuice," he said in a statement to the Post.
Sexton, however, denied the claim that Boebert was vaping during the performance, claiming that the fog machines and electronic cigarettes used in the show might have resulted in "a misunderstanding from someone sitting near her," according to The Washington Post.
Boebert's campaign did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. Denver Arts & Venues responded by providing a copy of the incident report.