Bedbug scare at the Scotiabank Theatre sets off pre-TIFF firestorm
Forget Oscar buzz. Rumours have it that TIFF theatres are featuring something so creepy, they’ll keep you up at night: bedbugs. TIFF co-director Cameron Bailey took to Twitter on Monday afternoon to calm the swelling panic after a moviegoer at Cineplex’s Richmond Street Scotiabank Theatre, identified as a 38-year-old anonymous female by the Toronto Star, complained of finding bites four hours after seeing a movie.
“Before bedbugs becomes today’s meme: we’re on it, we’re talking to Cineplex and are planning for an itch-free #TIFF10,” he tweeted. He got part of his wish—bedbugs have become today’s meme, not yesterday’s. That right: one tweet and one allegation of bites is all it took to set off a media firestorm, with stories here, here, here, here and even here.
About a half-dozen screenings are held per day at the Scotiabank during the festival. Cineplex swears it is doing everything in its power to guarantee the only thing TIFF VIPs becomes infected with is a love of Canadian hospitality. “We are immediately investigating the issue and will take necessary steps to address this,” Cineplex wrote in a statement on Twitter. “Guest safety is our #1 concern!”
Even still, think twice before you let Natalie Portman give you a hug.
UPDATE: The Star is reporting that a mad midnight inspection of the Scotiabank Theatre turned up no bedbugs at all. “Late yesterday afternoon, Cineplex contracted the services of Abell Pest Control Inc., (Abell), who are experts in their field, to investigate a claim,” Cineplex spokeswoman Pat Marshall told the daily. “After a thorough investigation overnight, which involved a specially trained sniffing dog and a secondary visual inspection, Abell has confirmed that there were no bedbugs located within the Scotiabank theatre.”
![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://torontolife.com/culture/bedbug-scare-at-the-scotiabank-theatre-sets-off-pre-tiff-firestorm/&title=Bedbug scare at the Scotiabank Theatre sets off pre-TIFF firestorm&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Bedbug-Scotiabank.jpg&description=[caption id="attachment_37051" align="alignleft" width="325" caption="Mothra jokes inevitable as rumours swirl of a bedbug infestation at the Scotiabank theatre (Image: Steve Harris)"][/caption]
Forget Oscar buzz. Rumours have it that TIFF theatres are featuring something so creepy, they'll keep you up at night: bedbugs. TIFF co-director Cameron Bailey took to Twitter on Monday afternoon to calm the swelling panic after a moviegoer at Cineplex’s Richmond Street Scotiabank Theatre, identified as a 38-year-old anonymous female by the Toronto Star, complained of finding bites four hours after seeing a movie.
“Before bedbugs becomes today’s meme: we’re on it, we’re talking to Cineplex and are planning for an itch-free #TIFF10,” he tweeted. He got part of his wish—bedbugs have become today's meme, not yesterday's. That right: one tweet and one allegation of bites is all it took to set off a media firestorm, with stories here, here, here, here and even here.
About a half-dozen screenings are held per day at the Scotiabank during the festival. Cineplex swears it is doing everything in its power to guarantee the only thing TIFF VIPs becomes infected with is a love of Canadian hospitality. “We are immediately investigating the issue and will take necessary steps to address this,” Cineplex wrote in a statement on Twitter. “Guest safety is our #1 concern!”
Even still, think twice before you let Natalie Portman give you a hug.
UPDATE: The Star is reporting that a mad midnight inspection of the Scotiabank Theatre turned up no bedbugs at all. “Late yesterday afternoon, Cineplex contracted the services of Abell Pest Control Inc., (Abell), who are experts in their field, to investigate a claim,” Cineplex spokeswoman Pat Marshall told the daily. “After a thorough investigation overnight, which involved a specially trained sniffing dog and a secondary visual inspection, Abell has confirmed that there were no bedbugs located within the Scotiabank theatre.”){kind=link}
first hotels, then libraries now toronto movie theatres?!
the media and public health reps really need to focus on CONTAINMENT (of existing infestations) and PREVENTION (against spreading bed bugs). because, clearly, people are still clueless about the seriousness of these tiny bloodsucking insects, how easily they’re spread and how hellish they can be once they’re in your home.
if bed bugs are now in movie theatres (and libraries and restaurants or wherever), it’s because people are bringing them in… where others can then unknowingly (and quite easily) pick them up and bring them home, continuing the cycle. where is the public awareness campaign???
when SARS and H1N1 hit, the media was saturated with coverage on how to prevent their spread — precautions, warning signs, what not to do, etc. — and, as a result, those viruses were contained and didn’t cause nearly the damage they could have. where is the “stop bed bugs!” campaign?
the same kind of attention and, yes, even “alarmist” coverage needs to happen in order to wake up the public and stomp out the bed bug spread.
the upcoming queen’s park summit on bed bugs is a start…
Bedbug bites take days, not hours, to appear…and they only feed at dawn, so there’s no way this anonymous woman got her bites at the Scotia Theater.
Alarmist?
Excuse me. Try going to the movie theatre and coming home with big red bites and an infestation that keeps you up every night and costs months of your time and hundreds of dollars. That’s not alarmist.
I was bitten by bed bugs shortly after visiting the Varsity theatre. Sure, they could have crawled through my wall, but I doubt it. I think they were from those dirty seats. Let this be a wakeup call for all Toronto movie theatres.
you’re mistaken, DS. bed bug bites, and their side effects, vary greatly from person to person.
some people never show any signs of being bitten; others have red welts appear within MINUTES (not days).
and, while bed bugs are most active closer to dawn, they feed when it’s dark. period. time of day doesn’t matter; light does.
so a darkened theatre in the middle of the afternoon can most certainly be feeding time for a bed bug.
and JFK, i meant “alarmist” in a good way.
some people thought coverage of SARS and H1N1 was fear-mongering, but i think it’s *exactly* that kind of intense, blanket coverage that’s needed for bed bugs. some folks may consider it “alarmist,” but it’s not.
Re: Bedbug bites take days, not hours, to appear…and they only feed at dawn, so there’s no way this anonymous woman got her bites at the Scotia Theater.
Having lived with bedbugs I can assure you that this is not true. Bedbugs will bite whenever a host is present. They are most active at night. Bites do not take days to appear. They can appear in hours.
Last night (31aug10) my sister and I went to see the 8pm showing of Avatar in theatre 13. The whole time we were there, she complained of feeling “itchy all over”, twice she went to the bathroom to investigate the creepy crawly sensation on her skin. “Do you think you can get bedbugs at the movies?” she asked? I told her I’d check the bedbug registry when we got home. The registry showed no complaints, but this morning, we watched a story on the news that the theatre hired Abell pest control in order to investigate a bed bug complaint.
Sorry TIFF, we won’t be attending any Scotiabank theatre movies. In fact, we will no longer be going to this theatre at all. The threat of bringing bedbugs home is too much of a concern to even risk it. I’ll stick with a theatre that doesn’t have ANY rumours of bed bugs.
Gennet, i hope you also contacted the scotiabank theatre AND cineplex to advise them of this.
it’s important that people speak up — staying quiet just allows the problem to grow. and allows bed bugs time to spread if they are, in fact, infesting a particular location.
I went to theatre #4 last night at Scotiabank. A few hours after the movie, while trying to sleep, I felt movements and bites over my leg. carefully I waited and quickly passed my hand over the area where it felt like something was crawling. I felt something under my hand,, pinched it up and went to my microscope in the kitchen. Its hard to tell what it is, either a bedbug or a pretty weird mashed-up spider. Then I remembered seeing some article about bedbugs at a theatre. I checked to see if this was the Scotiabank where we went. Bingo. This makes me think that theatre #4 may have bedbugs, or its just a coincidence. If Scotiabank cinema sees this post, please check Theatre #4. We were sitting in the middle seats, at the front where the railing is, just above the wheelchair seating area.
I watched 2 movies yesterday (sept 16, 2012) at the TIFF event, at Scotiabank theatre, and I got about 8-10 bed bug bites.
I have called the theatre today and filed a complaint.
I am 100% sure it was from the theatre.
Female bedbugs, once inseminated, can lay eggs for weeks without a male,
and fertile females are more likely to hitch-hike than males. Sad to
say, but in the case of bedbugs, it only take one.http://www.pestxperts.ca/
Female bedbugs, once inseminated, can lay eggs for weeks without a male,
and fertile females are more likely to hitch-hike than males. Sad to
say, but in the case of bedbugs, it only take one.www.pestxperts.ca/