diff --git a/app/event.rb b/app/event.rb
index 271b11f3..7e4dadb2 100644
--- a/app/event.rb
+++ b/app/event.rb
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@ post '/event/:event_id/toggle_like' do |event_id|
   require_login
   content_type :json
   event = Event[id: event_id]
-  return 403 if event.site.is_blocking?(current_site)
-  return 403 if event.actioning_site.is_blocking?(current_site)
+  return 403 if event.site && event.site.is_blocking?(current_site)
+  return 403 if event.actioning_site && event.actioning_site.is_blocking?(current_site)
   liked_response = event.toggle_site_like(current_site) ? 'liked' : 'unliked'
   {result: liked_response, event_like_count: event.likes_dataset.count, liking_site_names: event.liking_site_usernames}.to_json
 end
@@ -13,7 +13,8 @@ post '/event/:event_id/comment' do |event_id|
   content_type :json
   event = Event[id: event_id]
 
-  return 403 if event.actioning_site.is_blocking?(current_site)
+  return 403 if event.site && event.site.is_blocking?(current_site)
+  return 403 if event.actioning_site && event.actioning_site.is_blocking?(current_site)
 
   site = event.site