Catholic university cuts Hannibal Buress' mic for referencing church child molestation

Updated

Students at a Catholic college were reportedly irritated this weekend when comedian Hannibal Buress was silenced during his stand-up set for making a joke about the Church.

While onstage at Loyola University, Buress used a screen projector to show an email he'd received from the school -- a list of topics he was asked to avoid, including content about rape, sexual assault, race, sexual orientation and illegal drugs.

It's unclear whether the guidelines specifically told him not to joke about the Catholic Church, but regardless, Buress took a stab at it, referencing its highly-publicized history of child molestation. In response, his mic was suddenly shut off, according to the Loyola Phoenix.

The crowd booed after Buress' microphone went silent but then went quiet in order to still hear him even without the mic. However, program organizers then amped up the background music so Buress couldn't be heard at all, and he walked offstage.

When he returned 15 minutes later, the students reportedly gave him a standing ovation and he made jokes about the mic situation throughout the rest of his set.

Buress is often credited with getting the ball rolling against Bill Cosby: In 2014, he called Cosby a rapist during a Philadelphia stand-up show, which elicited a massive public response and ultimately led to dozens of women coming forward against Cosby.

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