Kevin Hart fans miffed after being booted from Detroit show

Upset fans say comedian Kevin Hart's security went overboard in enforcing a no cell phone rule during his performance Friday at Little Caesars Arena.

Michael Helton-Geers, 45, of West Bloomfield and Jesse Hutchinson, 25, of Clarkston, said they got kicked out of the event because security guards mistakenly thought Hutchinson was using a cell phone.

Hutchinson said the guards even threatened to arrest him.

Olympia Entertainment released the following statement: Guest service and safety are our highest priorities and we are committed to positive interactions between our staff and our guests. To ensure a positive experience for all guests, the tour’s no-phone policy was widely messaged in advance and during the show via media outlets, social channels, posted to venue doors and throughout the concourse on all televisions, as well as announced by the tour itself in the arena.

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Representatives for Kevin Hart could not be reached for comment.

Both men said they knewthat cell phones weren't allowed and made sure to keep the devices in their pockets.

But part way through the second warm-up act, Helton-Geers said, a security guard walked up, pointed to Hutchinson and said, "You, out. You were on your cell phone." 

Hutchinson said he was seated in-between Helton-Geers and another attendee and couldn't even get his phone out of his pocket.

"They just pointed at me and said, 'You, out,' and I was like, 'For what? I didn't do anything,'" Hutchinson said. 

The men said the security guard refused to listen and instead called over his supervisor, who "got really belligerent with us."

The two were taken to a small room where they continued to explain that no one had been using their phones.

"Honestly I've never experienced anything like it in my life," Helton-Geers said. "They kept threatening us that we were going to go to jail, and making us feel like we had just robbed a bank, and we had legitimately done nothing." 

When security asked for Hutchinson's driver's license, the two men walked out. 

"I'm not comfortable giving that out to anybody, especially when I didn't do anything," Hutchinson said. 

Paul Wisner III, 33, of Toledo, who attended the same performance with his wife, Nicole, and two friends told the Free Press they also were booted by security over cell phones.

Wisner said his group was "very well aware" of the no cell phone policy, so his wife left her phone in their car parked in Greektown and he powered off his device and asked his friend's wife to keep it in her purse. 

"We both didn't have our phones on our person, the show had gone on for about 10 minutes. The hype man was out there, they made a reference about how they kicked out 200 people in Cleveland the night prior, (so) don't be on your phone," he said. 

Wisner said his wife asked him to hand her a pink clutch he was keeping in his hoodie pocket, she pulled out her Chapstick and handed the clutch back to him. Moments later, a security guard came by.

"I saw a security guard waving a glow stick around in the air like a helicopter," Wisner said. "Security comes up screaming behind us, like, we gotta go, we gotta go. So, I turned around like, 'Us? What do you mean?' The gentleman said he had seen my wife on a cellphone. 

"They assumed (the clutch) was a cell phone, I showed it to (security. I said look sir, 'You can search me.' He said, 'I don't care ... our people aren't gonna make mistakes." 

After continuing to try to explain they didn't have their phones on them and admittedly getting "combative" with security, Wisner said two uniformed Detroit police officers came down to escort him and his wife out.

"We were out the money for the tickets, money for parking, money for the food that we had left at our seats...," he said. "We were out of there before the show even really started." 

Wisner said his two friends that stayed later told him, "there were multiple people getting kicked out all night." 

The no cell phone rule at Hart's shows have resulted in othercomplaints during his latest tour, which started on March 23 and spans cities across the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia and Asia.

However, Hart is hardly the first artist to implement a strict cell phone policy. 

Rocker Jack White required fans to keep their phones in locked pouches during his Little Caesars Arena performance in April, in 2015, and fans who had their phones out were also stringently policed by security and booted from a Prince's show at the Fox Theatre.

Still, Helton-Geers said the experience has changed his mind about attending another Hart performance.

"I went to see Kevin Hart, because I think that he's a good entertainer. I think he's funny, he makes me laugh. But if he doesn't take some type of responsibility for this type of action, even just an, 'I am sorry this happened, this is not me, this is not my brand, this is not what I wanted, this will be corrected immediately,' then I probably would have no desire to see anything else that he did."

Hutchinson agreed: "I felt I was wrongly pinpointed and accused of something and got zero respect." 

Related stories: 

Jack White's smartphone ban gets first test

Prince delivers magical marathon at the Fox

Here's a look at the social chatter that's followed "The Kevin Hart Irresponsible Tour:"

The comedian used a skit to poke fun at folks who believed they were wrongfully kicked out of shows during his "What Now" tour in 2016. 

In a YouTube video posted by WORLDSTARHIPHOP, Hart "interrogated" disgruntled fans: 

Contact reporter Aleanna Siacon at ASiacon@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter: @AleannaSiacon.