The O2 Arena in London has released a ‘Statement regarding entry refusal to The O2 arena on Saturday 10 August 2024’ which says: “This policy prohibits items that “in our reasonable opinion, may cause danger or disruption to any Event or to other visitors.”
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| O2 Arena, London. Photo: Getty Images |
The Statement:
We are a diverse and inclusive venue, as is our fanbase, and we sincerely apologise for any offence and upset this incident may have caused.
On any given night we host up to 20,000 people and we try to make the best decisions we can, with the information we have available, in a timely fashion. We don’t get every decision right, all of the time, and on this occasion we made a judgement call and got it wrong. For that, we apologise.
Safety and security are our paramount priority at all times, and we do everything we can to provide a safe and respectful environment for all guests. It is for this reason our ‘prohibited items’ policy exists, stipulated in our terms and conditions for all events. This policy prohibits items that “in our reasonable opinion, may cause danger or disruption to any Event or to other visitors.” On this occasion that was not the case and entry should have been granted.
For clarity, there is no venue policy which prohibits clothing displaying any specific messages, unless we reasonably believe there to be a risk of disruption or that it is unlawful.
In light of this incident we are currently reviewing our policies and procedures to prevent this happening again and wish to extend our apologies once more.
