Eventbrite Betrayed My Trust and Sabotaged My EventI am extremely disappointed and concerned about the recent experience I had with Eventbrite and how they chose to handle my event promotion for a family-friendly community gathering through my business, Cute & Cuddlee Mobile Petting Zoo.Initially, I listed my June 8th event on Eventbrite to provide the public with easy access to ticket information and updates. Everything seemed to be going smoothly until I received an alarming email from Sean S. Reinhart, the Recreation Director for the City of Menlo Park. In his email, he accused me of planning an event at a public park without a permit and aggressively threatened to shut the event down.What made this even more disturbing is that Sean explicitly stated he “just found out about this event.” Yet somehow, Eventbrite claimed to me that the City of Menlo Park had first contacted them. This creates a glaring contradiction—how could the city have reached out to Eventbrite first, if the Recreation Director himself only just discovered the event? That contradiction alone makes it clear that something questionable and potentially unlawful occurred behind the scenes.More troubling is the fact that I never informed Eventbrite whether I had a permit or not. That information was never disclosed on my event listing, and Eventbrite never contacted me to inquire or verify it. Yet, without knowing any of the facts or communicating with me first, they seemingly took it upon themselves to report my event to the city. Why would a third-party ticketing platform make assumptions or intervene in this way? This reeks of overreach, a breach of neutrality, and possibly even defamation—especially considering the city then threatened me with aggressive and intimidating language.After I made the decision to cancel the event voluntarily and clearly communicated that to the city, Sean Reinhart’s emails became even more inappropriate. Instead of simply acknowledging the cancellation, he began demanding that I take down all Eventbrite ads, remove references to the event from any platform, and made veiled threats that they would monitor other locations and shut down any other events we might be hosting. This is not only an abuse of authority but could also be considered harassment and intimidation.It’s deeply disappointing to see a public official behave in this way, especially toward a small business owner trying to create community events for families and children. I have since reached out to Mayor Combs to report the situation and to seek accountability for Sean Reinhart’s misconduct and unprofessional behavior.As for Eventbrite, their involvement in this situation has shaken my trust. I used their platform in good faith to promote a harmless and joyful event, only to have it result in surveillance, intimidation, and misrepresentation. Eventbrite is supposed to be a tool for business owners and event organizers—not a reporting agency for city officials, especially without fact-checking or communication. This was not only unprofessional—it was unethical.I do not recommend Eventbrite to any businesses or independent event planners without clear guidelines on privacy and protections from third-party interference.
