Organizers say controversial Bikram Yoga event will be "rescheduled"

The organizers behind a controversial Vancouver yoga seminar featuring Bikram Choudhury say the planned event will be “rescheduled” after thousands spoke out against it and the hotel that was supposed to host it said it won’t happen on the premises.

“The ‘Boss is Back’ event will be rescheduled due to a scheduling conflict. We thank all those that supported the event,” Adam Chipiuk, president of Canada Yoga Sports Federation, said in a statement to Daily Hive.

Canada Yoga Sports Federation

The update comes two days after the JW Marriott Parq Vancouver, the hotel initially mentioned in the event’s promotional materials, said the event wasn’t happening at their property.

“As a matter of privacy, we do not comment on specific groups or guests with whom we do business, we can share that the event in question is not on our schedule,” general manager Graeme Benn said.

He did not answer follow-up questions about whether the hotel cancelled the event.

More than 4,000 people signed an online petition to stop the event. It was started by Jill Lawler, a Vancouver woman who alleges Choudhury groomed, sexually assaulted, and abused her starting for several years in 2010 when she was 18. She first met Choudhury at a teacher training in Las Vegas.

The idea her alleged rapist could be coming to Vancouver was her “worst nightmare come true,” Lawler told Daily Hive. Her campaign to stop the event drew the attention of thousands, including a group of Canadian yoga teachers who’ve been contacting government agencies to put them on alert that Choudhury might be trying to enter the country.

The infamous yoga guru has been sued by multiple women for sexual assault and misconduct. Although he hasn’t been tried criminally, he’s settled some of the suits and was also defeated in court by his former attorney Micki Jafa-Bodden in a sexual harassment and wrongful dismissal suit.

He was ordered to pay her nearly $7 million USD in damages, but instead of paying fled the country. There’s still a warrant for his arrest in California.

Choudhury is the subject of a 30 for 30 podcast and a Netflix documentary titled Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator.