Wednesday night, Nicole Byer was going to spend an evening away from cupcakes and among Gators, or so students thought for about a week.
The Reitz Programming Board (RPB) announced a live show with the TV personality in the Reitz Union on Aug. 9, but it was canceled less than a week later, said Tori Chin, the board’s vice president of external affairs.
Byer is the host of Netflix’s “Nailed It!,” a show that highlights the skills, or lack thereof, of home bakers. She also has a web series with MTV, “Loosely Exactly Nicole,” and was formerly on the network’s series, “Girl Code.” The comedian spoke at UF in 2015.
RPB negotiated between $10,000 to $20,000 to host Byer, which would have come from student activity fees. However, the exact price was never determined because the contract was not finalized, Chin said.
“We thought Nicole had an audience that spans across a lot of different groups and that would be great for UF’s campus,” Chin said.
However, the event was canceled due to scheduling conflicts with the performer, said Board President Janzen Rich. The team still does not know whether they will reschedule Byer’s performance or sign a different entertainer.
“We want to find someone with the same diversity goals that we represent in our events and also someone who has the same target audience of that college crowd,” Rich said.
Brooke Faer, a 21-year-old UF psychology senior, was planning on attending the event to learn more about Byer. She said she was disappointed and hopes they replace the event with someone similar.
“I just think she’s really funny on the Netflix show so I was interested in seeing what her comedy was like,” Faer said.
Nicole Byer was originally scheduled to come to UF this Wednesday to perform for students; however, due to scheduling conflicts, she will no longer be coming to the university.
