Under-fire comedian Reginald D Hunter has been axed from an upcoming stand-up show after an Israeli couple were ‘hounded’ and booed out of his Edinburgh Fringe gig.
The American, 55, was due to perform at a council-owned hall in Scottish town Giffnock, but the local authority has cancelled the show saying: ‘We have a commitment to our community, and to our values of diversity and inclusion, which we take seriously.’
Local Conservative councillor Paul Edlin accused Hunter of ‘encouraging a baying mob’ to hound out the Jewish couple.
Hunter had been performing his new standup show ‘Fluffy Fluffy Beavers’ at Edinburgh Fringe when he made a quip about how watching a recent Channel 5 documentary about domestic abuse had made him think of Israel.
But when two Israeli audience members had objected to the distasteful joke, they were reportedly sworn at, called ‘genocidal’ and told ‘you’re not welcome’ by fellow spectators shouting ‘Free Palestine‘.
Hunter has taken to X to apologise for his part in the incident, claiming it is part of his job as a comedian to ‘push boundaries’.
The comedian who is from Albany, Georgia, but has lived in the UK since 1997, has insisted that he is ‘staunchly anti-war and anti-bully’ after the backlash he received following the incident.
Under-fire comedian Reginald D Hunter has been axed from an upcoming stand-up show after an Israeli couple were ‘hounded’ and booed out of his Edinburgh Fringe gig
The American, 55, was due to perform at a council-owned hall in Scottish town Giffnock, but the local authority has cancelled the show
Hunter has taken to X to apologise for his behaviour
Hunter was set to perform in Giffnock on September 28, but East Renfrewshire Council said it had taken the decision ‘to cancel Eastwood Park Theatre’s show featuring Reginald D Hunter’.
They added: ‘We have a commitment to our community, and to our values of diversity and inclusion, which we take seriously.’
Local Conservative councillor Paul Edlin told the Jewish Telegraph: ‘He encouraged a baying mob in the audience to hound out a Jewish couple, one of whom was in a wheelchair.’
The Scottish Council of Jewish Communities and the Glasgow Jewish Representative Council (GJRC) had both complained about the incident to East Renfrewshire Council.
Dominic Cavendish, chief theatre critic at The Telegraph who was at Sunday’s Fringe show, said it was the ‘most unpleasant comedy gig I’ve ever attended’.
A Police Scotland spokesman said: ‘We have been made aware of a hate incident which reportedly took place at an event in Edinburgh. We are reviewing the circumstances.’
In a post on X Hunter wrote: ‘There was an unfortunate incident in my new show ‘Fluffy Fluffy Beavers’.
‘As a comedian I do push boundaries in creating humour, it is part of my job. This inevitably creates divided opinions but I am staunchly anti-war and anti-bullying.
‘I regret any stress caused to the audience and venue staff members.’
Anti-semitism campaigners called the incident ‘a sickening low that cannot be disguised as comedy’ – as organisers maintained they were ‘committed to upholding the principles of creative freedom of expression.’
The pressure group Campaign Against Antisemitisim have asked their own lawyers to review footage to see whether any action can be taken.
In a statement the group said: ‘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.’
The US-born entertainer was half-way through the packed gig at the Edinburgh Festival on Sunday night – described by one theatre critic as the ‘ugliest Edinburgh Fringe moment ever’ – when the commotion began.
Reginald D Hunter has insisted that he is ‘staunchly anti-war and anti-bully’ following the backlash he has received online
The statement made by the pressure group Campaign Against Antisemitisim on social media
As a woman told her story of how she was ill-treated by her husband, the comedian revealed that he thought to himself: ‘My God, it’s like being married to Israel.’
While the joke evoked laughter from the audience, a couple on the front row were prompted to shout out ‘not funny’, before revealing they were Israeli.
Dominic Cavendish, chief theatre critic for The Telegraph, was in the audience when the furore erupted.
Writing a review of the show, which he awarded one star to, Cavendish 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.’
Rather than pulling the audience up for their animosity towards the unwitting hecklers, Hunter apparently instead said to them: ‘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.’
The couple, one of whom was disabled, are then said to have exited from the show as Hunter apparently ‘openly laughed’ at them and as fellow audience members continued to jeer.
Two Israeli audience members were sworn at, called ‘genocidal’ and told ‘you’re not welcome’ by fellow spectators shouting ‘Free Palestine ‘ at them after objecting to a joke told by stand-up comedian Reginald D Hunter at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Not done with the pair, even as they left, Hunter then related a story about how his partner had complained about not being able to access the Jewish Chronicle’s website, as it is behind a paywall.
He is reported as saying: ”Typical f—ing Jews, they won’t tell you anything unless you subscribe.’ ‘It’s just a joke,’ he added.
The incident has provoked outrage among some social media users, who describe it as ‘awful’ and ‘anti-semitic’.
One wrote: ‘His behaviour was abhorrent – but what was the audience thinking by abusing two strangers who happened to be Israeli? Hateful, toxic, repellent stuff.’
Another posted: ‘So disappointing that someone who is from a minority doesn’t empathise with (in fact encourages) racism towards another minority.’
A third said: ‘If your gags are at the expense of [a] bullied minority, you’re not a comedian – you’re a bully.’