Account X of Vancouver strip club Penthouse has been suspended, and not for what you might think.
The social media platform formerly known as Twitter took action after a photo of the club’s latest marquee that read: “Forever neighbors, never neighbors” went viral.
The wording references President-elect Donald Trump’s recent trolling of Canada by calling it the 51st state in the United States, and uses the juxtaposition of the Canadian spelling of “neighbor” against American “neighbor” for political satire.
Obviously cheeky, the marquee has struck a chord with some.
Just one day after a photo of The Penthouse sign was posted on X, the free speech social media platform shut down the club’s account saying it “violates X’s Hate Profile Policy.”
“When I first saw the words ‘hate speech’ my heart sank,” said Penthouse social media manager Benjamin Jackson. “Still, right now, I’m a little speechless because it’s shocking, just knowing obviously that it’s clearly not hate speech.”
Jackson still isn’t sure how the sign came to be considered hateful.
“I think it was probably pointed out by someone who is more of a Trump supporter or an Elon Musk supporter, and… if it gets enough complaints, by default it will be removed,” he said.
CBC News contacted X to confirm the reasoning for the suspension.
The Penthouse tent is already famous in Vancouver thanks to Jackson’s talent for combining the business of exotic dancing with current headlines.
“Better polls than CNN projections” was another quote about American politics that ran on the marquee not long ago. During the pandemic closure he announced: “Dressed until further notice.”
While the marquee regularly draws laughs locally, it is now gaining an international audience.
When CBC News spoke to Penthouse owner Danny Filippone, he was ordering 100 T-shirts with “Neighbors Forever, Never Neighbors” on the front, at the request of a Seattle businessman.
“This particular marquee, the whirlwind and the amount of attention, literally the phone has been ringing every five minutes,” said Filippone, whose family has owned the club since the 1930s.
“From the media to friends, from clients to complete strangers emailing The Penthouse basically saying, ‘This is crazy, what’s going on?'”
Jackson, who pulls double duty as a bartender, said the X controversy is inevitably good for business.
“It’s amazing. At first a lot of people were like, ‘Oh, it sucks that they deleted your X account.’ And last night I was with some friends and I was like, ‘You know what? It was the best thing that could have happened.’
“Believe [the marquee] He would have had recognition in the city. But the fact is that now… it’s a bigger story. And for me, I’m all for it. You can keep the account at this time.”
