Paul Currie’s legal action against Soho Theatre over his altercation with a Jewish audience member has got under way.

The comedian claims the statement put out by the venue after the incident in February last year was libellous by branding him antisemitic.

Jewish comedy-goers had complained they felt threatened and intimidated by the Northern Irish stand-up, who is said to have led chants of ‘get out’ and ‘free Palestine’ during his show at the London theatre. 

However other audience members said they didn’t believe that Currie had been antisemitic, and that the incident was just a crowd interaction gone sour.

Currie was given a lifetime ban from the theatre over the incident.

A preliminary hearing at the High Court yesterday was asked to determine which parts of the theatre’s statement should be classed as fact or opinion.

Mr Justice Nicklin said that it was a fact that: ‘Following the End of the claimant’s show, the claimant had verbally abused Jewish members of the audience and aggressively demanded that they leave the theatre, and there were grounds to investigate whether by so doing the claimant had committed a criminal offence.’

However, what was opinion was whether: ‘This conduct was: (a) intimidating and antisemitic; (b) appalling and unacceptable; (c) inconsistent with the values of Soho Theatre and justified the theatre in refusing to allow the claimant the opportunity to perform at the Soho Theatre in the future.’

The Evening Standard reported that Currie’s legal team signalled they may appeal against the ruling.

The incident started when Currie produced the Palestinian flag during his show, Shtoom, to make a statement about peace – and came to a head when the comic orchestrated his own standing ovation at the end.

Currie spotted one man who remained in his seat and asked him why he didn’t stand, saying: ‘Didn’t you enjoy my show?’

The man, later identified as 33-year-old Israeli software engineer Liahav Eitan, replied: ‘I enjoyed your show until you brought out the Palestinian flag.’

It apparently provoked Currie to order him out of the theatre, with Eitan saying he was left terrified by the 'mob mentality' of the crowd, many of whom, he said, were up on their feet shouting, ‘Free Palestine’ and ‘get out’ at him.

The libel case is now expected to move forward towards a possible trial.

Soho Theatre’s statement, which Currie claims damaged his reputation as a liberal comedian, read: ‘Soho Theatre will not tolerate intimidation of audience members due to their nationality, race, religion or beliefs.

‘On Saturday evening, following the End of Paul Currie’s show Shtoom, Jewish members of the audience were subjected to verbal abuse and the performer aggressively demanding they leave the theatre.

‘Whilst we robustly support the right of artists to express a wide range of views in their shows, intimidation of audience members, acts of antisemitism or any other forms of racism will not be tolerated at Soho Theatre.

‘We are continuing our investigation, discussing the incident with that evening’s audience and consulting with the police. We are working with the Campaign Against Antisemitism to meet with members of the audience who were affected. We are taking professional advice to safeguard the much-valued inclusivity of Soho Theatre.’`

Currie is represented by barrister David Hirst,  who was instructed by Rahman Lowe Solicitors, and the theatre by Gervase de Wilde, instructed by Reynolds Porter Chamberlain. Both barristers are members of media law specialists 5RB.