Elayne Boosler, Rolling Stone’s “First Lady of Stand-Up,” expressed outrage after she says she was arrested for refusing to leave Dodger Stadium due to her handbag that violated the stadium’s bag policy.
Boosler was trying to attend the Dodgers-Mets game on Sunday and arrived at the stadium with her new handbag, which is shaped like a baseball.
When she tried to enter Dodger Stadium, security officials stopped her and told her that she would not be allowed in with her non-clear bag.
According to a YouTube video posted on Monday by Boosler, security told her that she had to throw the bag out or return it to her car, but she refused to leave because she “…paid $50 to park a mile away, [it was] 80 degrees and the tickets were $300 in the secondary market.”
She then claimed that there was no disclaimer on her ticket regarding the clear bag policy and that she should be let in anyway.
Security denied her access again, which according to Boosler, was because of “terrorism.”
“I said ‘terrorism?’ I’ve sung the anthem here five times, I’ve been in the booth 50 times, I’ve done everything extra for Dodger Stadium a comedian can do,” she said in her YouTube video. “I’ve played in the Hollywood Stars game ten times…just let me in with the bag.”
After more back and forth, security would still not budge, and that’s when things got “heated,” the comedian said.
“Unfortunately, that guy at the gate was that kind of guy with just a little bit of power, and that’s the most dangerous…guys with a little bit of power, oh man, they get to use it,” Boosler said.
The security officer refused entry to Boosler but let her nephew and his 8-year-old child in at her request. Then, he threatened to have her arrested for trespassing if she didn’t leave.
“Anyway, I said ‘Fine, arrest me’,” she stated.
She was handcuffed and placed in the back of a squad car by two officers whom she described as “very nice” but added that it may have been because she is white.
Upon arriving at the Dodger Stadium office, the team pressed charges because “the guy wouldn’t give up,” Boosler claimed, even though other stadium officials were kind to her while she was “handcuffed behind [her] back and to a bench.”
In true comedian style, Boosler said she cracked at least one joke while being “processed.”
“They count all the cash in your purse and then you have to sign off on it,” she explained. “They said, ‘You have $371 cash in your purse’ and I said, ‘Well yes, we were planning on buying two hot dogs and a water.’”
Boosler was eventually released hours later on the condition that she would leave the stadium grounds.
At the end of her three-and-a-half-minute video, the stand-up comedian expressed dismay at Dodger Stadium for their handling of the incident.
“Shame on you Dodger Stadium…you know me, [and] I’ve done so much free work for you for decades, and even if I wasn’t me – if I was just a customer who was coming to the game – to be treated like that is so awful,” she said. “You need to talk to your personnel, and you really need to get rid of ‘that guy’ with a tiny little bit of power who was definitely not a people person.”
The video garnered 14,000 views and almost 200 comments on YouTube in 24 hours; many viewers criticized Boosler for expecting to be treated differently because of who she was.
“It doesn’t matter who you are. The policy is the same for everyone. Either deal with it, or don’t go,” one comment read.
“For someone who has been to the stadium as many times as you say you have, it’s a little odd you don’t know the clear bag policy that’s at almost every stadium now,” another said.
According to the Dodger Stadium bag policy, only adult diaper bags, diaper bags that accompany infants and clear plastic bags smaller than 12″ x 12″ x 6″ are permitted. Additionally, non-clear wristlets and clutches no larger than 5″ x 8″ x 2″ are permitted.
The Dodgers declined to comment on the incident.