After potentially losing its liquor license because of a drag event, the Hyatt Regency Miami has blamed the city and an outside party.
Hotel management denied any wrongdoing when a DeSantis administration official threatened to cancel the hotel’s liquor license due to a Christmas-themed drag show that featured sexually explicit content that minors were able to witness.
In December, “A Drag Queen Christmas” was held at the Hyatt Regency Miami. An audience member filed a complaint with the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation claiming that performers had rubbed their fake breasts and genitalia on their faces. In addition, there were unclothed buttocks, faked masturbation, and other sexually explicit content.
Notwithstanding what the Hyatt’s GM said, the drag show was held at a city-owned and -operated facility.
Amir Blattner said in a statement emailed to Fox News that the event in question took place in the James L. Knight Center, which is owned by the city but operated by a different organization and is just across the street from the Hyatt Regency Miami. A third-party organization is in charge of arranging and selling tickets.
He contended that the only thing Hyatt did for the James L. Knight Center was sold concessions.
Officials from Governor Ron DeSantis’s office said on Tuesday that they will begin taking steps to cancel the hotel’s liquor license. The Hyatt had also been issued a warning by the authorities before the incident.
“Sexually explicit content should not be presented to children and doing so is illegal in Florida,” wrote Bryan Griffin of the governor’s office. “Governor DeSantis fights for kids’ rights in the classroom and across Florida,” they stated.
According to DeSantis’s office, the hotel has 21 days to request a hearing on the matter. Blattner reassured guests that the Hyatt’s regular alcohol sales schedule would hold until further notice.
Blattner said, “As part of the administrative review process, we are looking into this complaint and will speak with the state’s Department of Business and Professional Regulation.”
The DeSantis administration requested that the event’s advertising specify that it was “recommended for audiences 18+,” so organizers made the necessary changes.
Hence, “children went and were intentionally admitted in,” the complaint from the regulations department states. The performers, who were aiming for an all-ages audience, wore revealing attire and sported fake female genitalia during the Performance.
Inappropriate versions of traditional carols, including “Jingle Bells” and “Silent Night” “You know Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen/Vomit and Stupid and Dildo and D***s-in,” are all lines from the song “Screwdolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”
So, one year, on a dark and stormy Christmas Eve, Santa walked up and asked, “Screw Rudolph, with your sparkling nose, won’t you direct my sleigh tonight?” “a report from the appropriate authorities.
The James L. Knight Center and the city of Miami did not respond. According to its website, the facility’s management company, ASM Global, likewise declined to comment.