An official with the Alabama Democratic Party says the inflammatory comedian Bill Maher will not attend a reception hosted by the party this month.
The news comes after an uproar that the Democrats would align themselves with a comedian with a record of making offensive and sexist statements about conservative women, including former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
Bradley Davidson, the executive director of the state Democratic Party, told the Huntsville Times Thursday that Maher will not participate in the March 17 reception slated to occur before he does a standup show at the Von Braun Center in Huntsville. The party, however, still plans to hold a reception for donors before Maher’s show.
Davidson has not returned multiple requests for comment from The Daily Caller on the event.
But he claimed to the Huntsville Times that Maher was never invited to the reception and accused conservatives of being misleading about the event.
“They’ve been told that, but they continue to spread false information,” Davidson said this morning. “They’re getting their information from a Republican blog.”
But the Democrats have also been accused of being misleading about the event: An invitation for the fundraiser — which was scrubbed from the Democratic Party’s website after word of the event spread — described the night as “an evening with Bill Maher.” It doesn’t explicitly say Maher will attend the fundraiser, but implies it.
The invitation said that, “Tickets are $100 and include admission to the pre-event Chairman’s reception and prime seating at the performance.”
Alabama Republican Party Chairman Bill Armistead called on Democrats to cancel the event last week.
“How could he possibly promote someone with his hate-mongering track record?” Armistead asked of the Democratic Party chairman. “Judge Kennedy needs to cancel this event, repudiate Maher’s ridiculous and inflammatory statements and apologize to the people of Alabama for inviting a man of such low character to emit his provocative and disgusting rhetoric.” (SEE ALSO: David Axelrod cancels Bill Maher show appearance)
On Thursday 25 conservative women’s groups in Alabama held a news conference to protest the event.