‘Evil clowning’: Real-life clowns are responding to ‘It’ – and they aren’t happy

The remake of Stephen King’s “It,” which features the iconic killer clown Pennywise, premieres this weekend, and real-life clowns aren’t happy about it.

The World Clown Association claims that clowns are losing work because of the new movie. A group of clowns from a club in Canada planned to gather outside their town theater to hand out pamphlets in an effort to discourage the killer clown stereotype.

"We feel that this has done great harm in the business of clowning and for clowns," Dianne McNicol of Thunder Bay Clown Club, who performs as “Dottie the Clown,” told Vice. "You need to remember that clowns are people too."

Lex Jurgen shared the update on “It” as part of the week’s Hollywood Headlines on Friday’s “The Morning Blaze with Doc Thompson.”

Saying the gathering wasn’t a protest per se, McNicol asserted that “It” and the perpetuation of clowns as evil and scary keeps real clowns from doing good in their communities. "Don't promote ‘It,’ don't go out on Halloween and dress your kids as scary clowns, don't perpetuate the idea of evil clowning,” she told Vice.

The trailer for “It” broke records when it was released online in April, and references to the film trended on Twitter. Earlier this year, King referenced the backlash to his book and the new movie in a tweet, saying, “The clowns are pissed at me. Sorry, most are great. BUT...kids have always been scared of clowns. Don't kill the messengers for the message.”

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