Comedian Hannibal Buress’ microphone was cut off during a weekend stand-up routine at Loyola University Chicago as he joked about the Catholic church’s history of child molestation and sex abuse.
Buress opened his set at the Jesuit-run school’s Colossus event on Saturday by showing images of an email from the university detailing performance restrictions, according to the Loyola Phoenix, the school newspaper. The edict included a ban “on any content regarding rape, sexual assault, race and sexual orientation.”
Buress followed up with a comment “referencing priests’ molestation of children,” according to the newspaper, and his mic abruptly went dead. The crowd immediately began booing.
After the upset quieted a bit, Buress continued without a microphone, but the volume on background music was turned up, drowning him out. The comedian left the stage, while audience members demanded refunds, then returned 15 minutes later and joked about his mic being turned off.
“Bitch ass old people, I can project,” Buress told the audience, according to Consequence of Sound. He added later: “Y’all fuck kids, right?”
Buress reportedly finished his set without further incident and received a standing ovation.
Loyola University Chicago told HuffPost in a statement that they cut the mic on the performance because Buress “violated the mutually agreed upon content restriction clause in his contract.”
“It is standard for the University to include a content restriction clause in entertainment contracts; Buress is the only entertainer to disregard the clause to the degree that his mic was cut,” the statement said.
Fans of Buress know he’s no stranger to raising hell. A stand-up routine in 2014 brought world attention to Bill Cosby’s history of rape and sexual assault, which ultimately led to a trial ― and retrial ― of Cosby.
Buress’ representatives did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s requests for comment.
This story has been updated with a statement from Loyola University Chicago.
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