An Update and Correction from The Empty Space
We apologize. We owe our community a fuller and clearer account than the one we gave last month.
Our earlier statement said that allegations about a cast member in Machinal were new to us and had come to our attention only in the previous 36 hours. That was not accurate. An Empty Space board member was informed of an allegation against the accused by a third party in March 2025. It involved an incident that did not take place at an Empty Space event. At that time, we suspended him.
Under the policy we used then, a suspended participant could return if no criminal charges were filed. Any further concern would mean permanent removal. Under that policy, he was allowed to return and was cast in productions this year. Upon receiving information of a public statement against him, we took action to remove him from the production. We now recognize this policy needs improvement. Whether or not legal action is taken should not determine a person’s eligibility to participate in an environment dedicated to the safety and wellbeing of all cast and crew.
We also acknowledge that separate allegations have been raised involving a former board member. That person is no longer associated with The Empty Space.
We understand that victims should not have to go public to be heard.
We also made things worse after our first statement. We deleted comments, blocked accounts, and removed our post. That was wrong. Those accounts were unblocked and a secondary statement was made, which legal counsel then advised us to remove, along with disabling the comment section.
Please understand that the participants in our upcoming productions have nothing to do with this. Many of them have been among the loudest voices asking us to do better. Criticisms of The Empty Space’s decisions are fair, and we will not remove them, however threats or harassment will not be tolerated and will be removed.
Moving Forward:
The Empty Space is reviewing and updating our standards to reflect the concerns from the community. We are reevaluating the internal processes by which accusations such as these are handled.
We will post our next update on Sunday, October 18, 2026. We know trust is earned through action, and we intend to earn it back.
— The Board of Directors, The Empty Space