In class on Monday, Professor Smaldone was telling us about a lecture done by Steve Martin at the 92nd Street Y. He told us that the crowd was not pleased because they were expecting a funny performance, and shockingly, in return, the 92nd Street Y offered the whole audience a refund. I happened to find several articles online about the controversy over this lecture. Steve Martin, as expected, was very offended by this. Sol Adler, the executive director at the Y, issued an apology to Martin, saying, “We realize now that offering a refund, especially without consulting with our guests who graciously gave of their time, was disrespectful. We have learned our lesson, and this will not happen again.”
When the Y offered its patrons a refund, they were just thinking about trying to smooth things over after this “disappointing” performance. They failed to recognize how it might be upsetting to Martin, and it certainly was. It was a live conversation; just because Martin didn’t talk about what the audience was expecting, doesn’t mean they should get their money back. He was not assigned to make the audience laugh by his wittiness. I think it was wrong and disrespectful to give the audience back their money just because they didn’t particularly enjoy the lecture. I’ve been to concerts that I didn’t find to be the best but I didn’t request my money back. In what other live performances do you get your money back, just because you didn’t enjoy it?
Here are some articles about the issue, if anyone is interested:
Article 1
Article 2
Article 3
I was very surprised at this whole turn of events. It was a comedy of errors.