- Reginald D Hunter made a joke comparing Israel to an abusive husband
- An Israeli couple objected only to be jeered and sworn at by the audience
- Were YOU at the show or do you know the couple who were heckled? Email fran.wolfisz@dailymail.co.uk
Police are probing an alleged hate crime incident at comedian Reginald D Hunter’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe show after two Israeli audience members were mocked and booed.
A complaint was made to Police Scotland after an anti-Semitism row erupted over the treatment of the couple, who had objected to one of the American comic’s jokes.
They were reported to have been jeered by theatregoers after shouting ‘not funny’ when Hunter jokingly compared Israel to an abusive partner.
Staff at the Assembly George Square studios supported them after they left the auditorium during Sunday night’s performance of Hunter’s Fluffy Fluffy Beavers show. The 55-year-old stand-up, who witnesses said had sided with the audience members mocking the couple, is then said to have made another joke about Jews.
Now Police Scotland have confirmed that officers are reviewing the circumstances to assess whether a hate crime has been committed.
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
Hunter, 55, made a quip about how when watching a recent Channel 5 documentary about domestic abuse it made him think of Israel – before a couple in the front row announced they were Israeli
A force spokesman said: ‘We are reviewing the circumstances.’
Lawyers at the Campaign Against Antisemitism have appealed for witnesses to come forward with their testimony.
Hunter, who is due to perform another 11 nights on the Fringe, had previously been accused of making jokes about the Holocaust during a gig in 2006.
The incident on Sunday is said to have been triggered when Hunter told of a documentary featuring an abusive partner who claimed she was the true victim.
According to witnesses, he said: ‘When I saw that, I thought, my God, it’s like being married to Israel.’
A couple seated in the front row heckled him and said they were from Israel, prompting Hunter to speak directly to them and members of the audience to shout expletives.
After they left, the comedian is then said to have followed up with a joke about the online edition of the Jewish Chronicle – which is currently available for free – being behind a paywall. A spokesman for the venue said: ‘We are aware of two members of the audience choosing to leave Reginald D Hunter’s performance on Sunday, August 11.
The incident has provoked outrage among some social media users, who describe it as ‘awful’ and ‘anti-semitic’
Hunter is no stranger to controversy and has had to defend himself previously against accusations of anti-Semitic remarks made at the Edinburgh Fringe festival in 2006
‘The venue front of house team attended and supported them upon exiting.’
The Campaign Against Antisemitism said: ‘Our lawyers are examining this incident and we urge anyone who was present to contact us in confidence.’
Hunter was criticised in 2013 for using the N-word during a Professional Footballers’ Association awards.
At the Fringe in 2006, he joked that he wanted to go to Austria and be arrested for denying the Holocaust, then insist he meant the genocide in Rwanda.
The Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act came into force on April 1 and created an offence of ‘stirring up hatred’.
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