Provocative comedian Sandra Bernhard was dropped from a benefit performance from Rosie’s Place, a Boston women’s shelter after the shelter’s executive director received email about her controversial stage show Without You I Am Nothing at Theatre J in Washington DC.

"I really feel bad for Rosie’s Place," she told Huffington Post Thursday afternoon. "It was definitely manipulated by whoever put this out there to begin with."

Bernhard told Huffington Post that she did not use the term "gang rape," and in fact never said "rape" at all during the performance in question:

Being a comic, you go of on these really funny stream of consciousness tangents. So what I said, only funnier, was "are you willing to have the experience of getting raped and then keeping your child?" Only I said it much funnier, and more fluidly. I never once said gang rape. Actually I never said rape. Of course what I said was outrageous, it’s insane, and I’m completely unapologetic about it.

According to Bernhard, a game of distortion began. "Secondhand someone got wind of something I said about Sarah Palin and then twisted it. Matt Drudge is the king of theater and he put ‘gang rape’ in quotes and it’s turned into this ugly thing."

Well, what exactly did Sandra say?  Theatre J’s blog, "maintained and edited by Ari Roth, Artistic Director of Theater J, together with other staff members of the theater including our Literary Director and Associate Marketing Director" gives some clues:

September 10, 2008

Guess what? Some people are going to freak out at this show. They’ll hear Rage and LANGUAGE and Attitude and ROCK AND ROLL and they’ll wonder what happened to their Jewish Community Center.. There are lots of civil, upstanding citizens from the community coming tonight. What kind of shanda are we going to perpetrate?  Nothing worse than what’s going on in front of our eyes on the national political scene, our Diva’s going to demonstrate.

On September 12, the Washington Post’s review of the show was noted by conservative blogger Tim Graham who didn’t see the show, but read Theatre J’s blogs. 

A week later Graham quoted a post   by Ari Roth, that Graham states is from the theatre’s blog itself, which describes–rather than quoting exactly–the portion of Bernhard’s performance that has become so hotly debated. The portion which is now denied by Bernhard.

The post used by Graham to fuel conservative outrage can’t be found now on Theatre J’s blog, but no one has called Graham a liar. Instead there’s Roth’s explanation of the blog’s ownership, this disclaimer and a  commentary:

The opinions and views expressed on this site belong to the individual author(s) of the specifc posts and comments–and do not represent the views or opinions of the Washington DCJCC, its Board of Directors, employees, donors or members….

 To be fair, Sandra lets a stream of invective flow too during her 110 minute show. It’s a show with lots of new material in it, and it’s a different show every night, with some bits appearing for a night or two and then leaving, and other new bits showing up later and sticking around but well after the reviewers have come and gone…Sandra’s an artist. She’s not not only a hate speaker…Out of the context of a comic performance of a woman donning a character, it can be construed as unfunny. But within the theatrical idiom, it comes off differently.

 along with a statement from Bernhard:

That comment is part of a much larger, nuanced, and yes, provocative (that’s what I do) piece from my show about racism, freedom, women’s rights, and the extreme views of Governor Sarah Palin…

Graham’s article with the quoted description of the artistic/offensive piece tore through the blogoshpere, eventually creating waves in (conservative) mainstream media, plus tsuris, notority and sold out shows for the J Theatre.

By the time Bernhard’s show closed on September 28, it had  been mentioned by Matt Drudge and Rush Limbaugh, on Fox TV, and The O’Reilly Factor, as well as discussed on American Nativist and White Supremisist blogs. Theatre J’s website got 450,000 hits in ten days. Their post from September 28 reads:

To expose ourselves to the furious criticism that we received from these quarters. It mattered not for the show, which has been a wonderful ride – a great success – and a bit of a test of nerves too…

No, we are not without blame here.  And we draw battle lines too. Like Sandra, we provoke the occasional fight. And like Sandra, when all is said and done, we don’t really mean any ill…

We are not without blame on this blog. I made mistakes here. I’ve revealed too much. I left ourselves exposed to the haters; and the haters had at us…

September 30

As WITHOUT YOU I’M NOTHING evolved over its record-breaking run at Theater J (and yes, alas, we closed on Sunday, 9/28), it was clear that Sandra wanted to move beyond the characterization of her show as a “Palin Hate Fest.”…Those who continue to characterize her as hateful weren’t there to see the act…Sandra refined the act through the run and throughout the controversy, so as to make herself, her critique, and her message more clear…

Did she or didn’t she? Maybe one night she did. Stand up and performance art are fluid expressions, full of riffing and improvisation, depending on circumstance and situations that arise.

Much like the aftermath.