Two Israeli spectators were insulted, called “genocidal” and told “you’re not welcome” while shouting “Free Palestine” after objecting to a joke told by comedian Reginald D Hunter, while anti-Semitic campaigners tonight branded the incident “a sickening low point that cannot be disguised as comedy”.
The American-born artist was halfway through a packed concert at the Edinburgh Festival on Sunday night (described by one theatre critic as “the ugliest moment in the history of the Edinburgh Fringe”) when the commotion began.
Hunter, 55, joked that when she watched a recent Channel 5 documentary on domestic abuse, she thought of Israel.
As one woman told her story of being abused by her husband, the comedian revealed that he thought: “Oh my God, it’s like being married to Israel.”
Although the joke drew laughter from the audience, a couple in the front row shouted “it’s not funny,” before revealing they were Israeli.
Dominic Cavendish, chief theatre critic of The telegraphI was in the audience when the furor broke out.
Two Israeli audience members were insulted, called “genocidal” and told “you’re not welcome” while shouting “Free Palestine” after objecting to a joke told by comedian Reginald D Hunter at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Hunter, 55, joked that when he watched a recent Channel 5 documentary about domestic abuse, he thought of Israel, before a couple in the front row announced they were Israeli.
Reviewing the show, which she gave one star, Cavendish said: “The couple, who said they were from Israel, then endured being shouted expletives (‘fuck off’ among themselves) and told to leave by other members of the audience, with slow clapping, booing and shouts of ‘genocidal maniac’, ‘you’re not welcome’ and ‘free Palestine’ part of the toxic mix.”
Rather than criticizing the audience for their animosity toward the unintentional provocateurs, Hunter apparently told them, “You can say you don’t find it funny, but if you say it in front of a room full of people laughing, you look stupid.”
The couple, one of whom was disabled, are then said to have left the show as Hunter apparently “openly laughed” at them and the rest of the audience continued to jeer.
Not quite finished with the pair, even as they left, Hunter told a story about how his partner had complained about not being able to access the Jewish Chronicle website as it is behind a paywall.
He is reported to have said: “Typical fucking Jews, they won’t tell you anything unless you subscribe.” “It’s just a joke,” he added.
The incident has sparked outrage among some social media users, who described it as “horrible” and “anti-Semitic”.
One wrote: “His behaviour was abhorrent, but what was the public thinking when they insulted two strangers who were Israelis? It was hateful, toxic and disgusting.”
Another posted: “It’s very disappointing that someone who belongs to a minority does not empathize with (in fact, encourage) racism towards another minority.”
A third said: “If your jokes are at the expense of a bullied minority, you’re not a comedian: you’re a bully.”
Hunter is no stranger to controversy and has previously had to defend himself against allegations of anti-Semitic comments made at the Edinburgh Fringe festival. The times information.
The incident has sparked outrage among some social media users, who described it as “horrible” and “anti-Semitic”.
Hunter is no stranger to controversy and previously had to defend himself against allegations of anti-Semitic comments made at the Edinburgh Fringe festival in 2006.
In 2006, Jamie Glassman, a Jewish writer and producer of The Ali G Show, criticized Hunter after joking about Austria’s law banning Holocaust denial.
At the time, Glassman said of Hunter’s show, controversially called Pride and Prejudice and Negroes: “Of all the possible targets, of all the things he could want to say, his complaint is that he is not allowed to parrot the greatest anti-Semitic insult of the last hundred years: that the Holocaust never happened.
Paul Sullivan, Hunter’s publicist at the time, said the comedian was simply trying to convey that it was difficult to make jokes about Jews at the time.
In 2006, Israel became embroiled in the Lebanon war with Hezbollah.
Mr Sullivan said: ‘He’s not making anti-Jewish comments, all he’s saying is that it’s very difficult to criticise Jews in this world right now.
“I wouldn’t be making the material if he apologized for it.”
«Reg just sees it as material for his show, he writes about things he believes in.»
In 2013, he was again caught up in a racist storm after performing at the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) awards ceremony.
During that incident he filled his event with the word ‘n*****’ in front of shocked guests despite the organisation’s staunch anti-racism stance.
PFA deputy chief executive Bobby Barnes said at the time: ‘There were anti-Jewish jokes, anti-women jokes, anti-Irish jokes, there was the repeated use of the N-word.’
“If you were looking for a scenario of absolutely everything we wouldn’t want that night, I think you had a setup there.”
A spokesman for the Campaign Against Antisemitism said: ‘The events described at the Edinburgh Fringe are extremely worrying.
‘Comedians are given a lot of freedom, but they also have a responsibility to their audience.
The Campaign Against Antisemitism described the incident as “a disgusting event that cannot be disguised as comedy”.
‘Reginald D Hunter has laughed at his Holocaust jokes and another supposed joke about ‘typical shitty Jews’ in the past, but watching and cracking jokes while Jews are being kicked off your show is a sick low that can’t be disguised as comedy.
‘We’ve seen this before in recent months, and venues need to stand extremely firm against this type of behavior.
‘Our attorneys are investigating this incident and we urge anyone who was present at the show to contact us confidentially at investigations@antisemitism.org.’
Reginald D Hunter has been contacted for comment.
