Comedian Arrested at Los Angeles Dodgers Game: Elayne Boosler Speaks Out

Comedian Elayne Boosler is speaking out after she says she was arrested at Dodger Stadium over the weekend. In a nearly four-minute YouTube video, Boosler, 71, revealed that she was handcuffed ahead of the Dodgers home game against the New York Mets Sunday afternoon following an altercation with a security guard when she failed to adhere to the stadium’s clear bag policy.

“I didn’t know your bag coming into the stadium had to be clear and I was so excited to bring my new little baseball bag into the stadium,” Boosler said in the clip as she held up the bag she carried with her to the game: a Betsey Johnson baseball bag. Per MLB.com, the league’s bag policy at all ballparks reads, “Bags, backpacks, beach bags, hard/soft coolers, large purses, etc. are no longer permitted. Only adult diaper bags, diaper bags that accompany infants, clear plastic bags smaller than 12″X12″X6″, and non-clear wristlets/clutches no larger than 5″x8″x2″ are permitted and subject to search.” While waiting to enter the stadium, a security guard told her that the bag did not meet Dodger Stadium’s policy for handbags and she would either have to take it back to her car, or throw it away.

“We paid $50 to park a mile away and it’s 80 degrees. And the tickets were $300 in the secondary market. And nowhere did I see it say it has to be a clear bag,” she said.

Boosler went on to express her dismay at the situation, noting that she has sung the National Anthem at Dodger Stadium five times, has been in the booth 50 times, and also previously participated in the “Hollywood Stars Night” celebrity baseball game. However, she said “the guy at the gate was that kind of guy with just a little bit of power, just a little bit of power. And that’s the most dangerous.”

The comedian, who admitted that she dropped an “f-bomb,” said she was attending the game Sunday with her nephew and his 8-year-old son, who ultimately were forced to enter the stadium without her. Boosler was told she’d be arrested for trespassing if she did not leave, to which she replied, “I said ‘fine, arrest me.’ And so, they did. They arrested me, they cuffed me behind my back, they put me in a black and white squad car… I have to say the cops, men and women, were very nice. Yes, I’m white. I know that. But they were nice.”

Boosler concluded: “You know me. I’ve done so much free work for you for decades. And even if I wasn’t me, if I was just a customer who was coming to the game to be treated like that, for anyone to be treated like that is so awful, you need to talk to your personnel, and you really need to get rid of that guy with a tiny little bit of power who is definitely not a people person.”