University of Washington cancels Hasan Piker event

A state lawmaker said that multiple state legislators and groups, including Jewish ones, pressed the university to drop the event.

By Jessica Russak-Hoffman, JNS

The University of Washington canceled an event with antisemitic streamer Hasan Piker, which was scheduled for January, the public school told JNS on Friday.

JNS reported that not only did the university plan to host the hateful commentator, upon whom it heaped praise in the description of the event, which two of the university’s schools planned to co-host, but the public school had also suggested that attendees pay $10 each for tickets.

“I’m happy that the University of Washington, for literally the first time ever, has made the correct decision to not have an America-hating communist spread his hatred and terrible ideology to young people at our taxpayer-funded universities,” Travis Couture, a Republican state representative, told JNS.

“Obviously universities are a place for First Amendment free speech, but someone who said that America deserves 9/11 and that capitalist blood should spill in the street should not be someone we are promoting with our tax dollars,” Couture said.

“Every elected official and taxpayer-funded organization should be asked to condemn socialism, communism and Democratic Socialists of America people like Hasan Piker,” Couture told JNS.

“If they will not condemn those people, actions and extreme ideology, then they should be disqualified from serving the people of Washington state.”

The university told JNS that it “is dedicated to the free exchange of ideas, including on controversial topics and involving provocative speakers.”

“After Hasan Piker was announced as a speaker for the 2026-27 speaker series, there was a review of the process by which the event was planned,” it said.

“It was determined that the process for organizing this event did not meet the necessary level of rigor for university-hosted events in the speaker series. As a result, this event will not be held.”

“Going forward, procedures will be updated to ensure the standards we have for university-hosted events like the speaker series are met, particularly so that we can help elevate the level of dialogue on divisive topics during a polarized time in our country,” the public school told JNS.

A state lawmaker told JNS on background that multiple state legislators and groups, including Jewish ones, pressed the university to drop the event.