Vancouver night club slapped with social media ban after its latest U.S. commentary
Posted September 3, 2026 5:52 pm.
The Penthouse Night Club is back again with another cheeky marquee sign, but this time, it’s gotten the business into some deep waters.
Benjamin Jackson is the mastermind behind the strip club’s iconic signs. What started out as fun, sometimes indecent jokes to draw in customers, has taken a more political turn in recent years.
Jackson’s latest work pokes fun at Donald Trump’s aspirations to rename Lake Ontario to Lake America and the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool debacle.
“I posted it, three minutes and it was gone. They took my personal account, the penthouse account. It’s hard not to get frustrated. Running an Instagram account for a strip club is difficult enough, there’s so many things you can get in trouble for, and I just don’t think a joke should be one of those things,” said Jackson.
“This is funny, its cute, no names mentioned, so we were absolutely shocked when we found out it gotten taken down by Instagram,” said Danny Filippone, owner of the Penthouse Night Club.
It’s not the first time the Penthouse has caused controversy. When Trump’s 51st state rhetoric began, their “Always neighbours, never neighbors” sign got their X account banned for hate speech.
“The most common phrase I’ve been getting from people is ‘what happened to free speech?’ they’re 100 per cent correct, it’s like you can’t say anything now without it being either deleted or checked off a list. We’re in a different time right now. The tension between the U.S. and Canada has never in my lifetime been higher.”
Despite the social media ban, the nightclub says they’ve received overwhelming support from the community.
“We can’t go anywhere in Vancouver without people saying ‘Way to go! Or elbows up!’”
“People are now looking at us for a voice of not just Vancouver, but more of the country.”
The Penthouse is in the process of appealing its Instagram ban.
CityNews has reached out to Meta, Instagram’s parent company, for a comment.
