Comedy show in B.C. cancelled after outrage over troupe's Robert Pickton T-shirts

Warning: This article contains details and a photo some may find offensive.

A comedy club in New Westminster, B.C., says a show featuring comedy troupe Danger Cats has been cancelled after public outrage over the group's sale of T-shirts depicting serial killer Robert Pickton. 

In a now-deleted Facebook post, Rick Bronson's House of Comedy B.C. wrote it had decided to cancel the event, noting it missed the mark and aims to do better. 

"While we value and support the freedom of expression in comedy, we recognize that the chosen material for this show has caused discomfort in our community," the post read.

When asked by CBC News for more details on why the show was cancelled, David Facey, vice-president of operations for House of Comedy, said it had "no comment on the cancellation, but the show is no longer occurring."

Lorelei Williams, whose cousin Tanya Holyk was named as one of Pickton's victims, says seeing the T-shirt Danger Cats were selling made her nauseous and caused another family member to throw up. 

"This caused physical harm and pain," said Williams. "It's totally dehumanizing, it's so disgusting." 

Pickton, who was a pig farmer in Port Coquitlam, was convicted of six counts of second-degree murder in 2007 and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of full parole for 25 years.

While he was convicted for killing six women, the remains or DNA of 33 women were found on his pig farm in Port Coquitlam, around 25 kilometres east of downtown Vancouver. He once boasted to an undercover police officer that he killed 49 women. 

Pickton was known for targeting sex workers and vulnerable women in the Downtown Eastside. Many of his victims were Indigenous women. 

The serial killer became eligible to apply for day parole — meaning he would have to return to prison or a halfway home at night — last Thursday, according to the Parole Board of Canada. 

The T-shirt being described as offensive by many shows a caricature of Pickton holding a bacon strip underneath the words "Pickton Farms." Under the caricature is the text "Over 50 flavors of hookery smoked bacon." 

Williams said she is not satisfied with the comedy club's statement, which has since been deleted on its social media accounts, noting the club did not explicitly apologize in its statement and the T-shirt caused more than just "discomfort." 

"It's been horrifying, it's very disturbing," she said.