Police investigating 'hate incident' after Israeli couple 'hounded out' of Reginald D Hunter's Edinburgh comedy show
16 August 2024, 07:15
Police have launched a criminal investigation into a possible hate crime after an Israeli couple were 'hounded' out of comedian Reginald D Hunter's Edinburgh Fringe gig.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
Police Scotland said they had received a report of a "hate incident" at Hunter's show on Sunday, and that they were "reviewing the circumstances".
Hunter has since apologised for the incident, calling himself both "anti-war and anti-bully".
It came after the two audience members in question were labelled ‘genocidal’, sworn at and told they are ‘not welcome’ as they were jeered out of the gig performed by the US comic.
He was half way through the show at the Edinburgh Fringe when he made a joke about how watching a recent documentary made him think of Israel.
During the documentary, a woman told how she was ill-treated by her husband.
The comedian said it made him think: “My God, it's like being married to Israel.”
But the joke rankled the Israeli pair who were in the front row, who shouted out: “Not funny.”
Read more: Iran rejects Western calls to stand down from threat to attack Israel
Read more: Hamas confirm they will not join ceasefire talks with Israel this week
Hunter then appeared to side with the pro-Palestine element of the audience, telling the Israeli couple: “You can say it's not funny to you, but if you say it to a room full of people who laughed, you look foolish.”
They then left the show while the audience jeered at them.
Addressing the incident on Thursday, Hunter said: "There was an unfortunate incident in my new show 'Fluffy Fluffy Beaver'.
"As a comedian, I do push boundaries in creating humour, it's part of my job.
"This inevitably created divided opinions but I am staunchly anti-war and anti-bully.
"I regret any stress caused to the audience and venue staff members."
The Telegraph’s theatre critic Dominic Cavendish, who was in the audience, previously said it was the "most unpleasant comedy gig I've ever attended".
He said: “The pair, who said they were from Israel, then endured their fellow audience members shouting expletives ('f--- off' among them), and telling them to go – with slow-hand claps, boos and cries of 'genocidal maniac', 'you're not welcome' and 'free Palestine' part of the toxic mix.”
— Reginald D Hunter (@reginalddhunter) August 15, 2024
Anti-semitism campaigners called the incident "a sickening low that cannot be disguised as comedy".
A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “The events described at Edinburgh Fringe are extremely concerning.
“Comedians are rightly given broad latitude, but they also have a responsibility to their audience.
“Reginald D Hunter has laughed off his Holocaust jokes and another supposed joke about 'typical f***ing Jews' in the past, but watching on and cracking jokes as Jews are hounded out of your show is a sickening low that cannot be disguised as comedy.
“We have seen this before in recent months, and venues must stand extremely firm against this kind of behaviour.
“Our lawyers are examining this incident and we urge anyone who was present at the show to contact us in confidence at investigations@antisemitism.org.”
