Eventbrite pulls cannabis-related events, suspends organizers’ accounts

Eventbrite, an event board and ticket processor, is pulling some cannabis-related events and suspending the hosts accounts, according to a report from Forbes.

For the past two years, Michael Zaytsev has sold tickets on Eventbrite to the annual New York Cannabis Film Festival, that showcases films ranging from entertaining comedies to educational documentaries in Brooklyn’s Wythe Hotel. In addition to the festival, Zaytsev has also been in charge of cannabis industry networking events under the name High NY.

But this year, the platform pulled the event and suspended Zaytsev’s account, due to “violations of laws surrounding a federally regulated substance.”

Eventbrite sent him an email stating, “In order to have your account reinstated and be able to continue to use Eventbrite, we ask that you please reply to this email to agree to only publish events in compliance with our Terms of Use, Merchant Agreement, and all applicable laws.”

Zaytsev has responded to the email several times, and has not received a response yet.

“First of all, they have money that I’m owed for tickets I sold,” Zaytsev said. “Forget cannabis, this is no way to treat a customer with a 3-year relationship with [the company].”

Because his account is still frozen, he does not have a chance to log in and retrieve the guest list from the events that are still live on the site. Zaytsev said he thinks the suspension of the festival was related to a reference of CBD-infused popcorn.

Zaytsev was not the only one to have his account suspended.

James Jordan, and organizer for the Southern California Cannabis Business and Investment Group, said his account was frozen after posting a finance panel featuring cannabis investment firm executives. He could not access the URL to file a complaint because his account was locked, and he still has to receive payment for the 11 tickets sold on the platform.

“This is a ridiculous way to do it. I probably lost half of my crowd from the event,” he said. “I’ve has ticket companies calling me trying to get me to be on their platforms, but I like Eventbrite.”