And where were the fellow comics calling this out, asks Katie Price

A comedian has told of how she was turned down for a gig because she was ‘too Jewish’.

And when Katie Price called out the promoter on social media – she was disappointed with the lack of support from fellow comics.

The incident came after she approached the promoter behind some gigs in Northern England after hearing how well-run they were.

After sending a video of her stand-up, she received the reply: "Thank you for your clip, Katie. I personally enjoyed your comedy but reckon it is too specialised for my seaside audience of pensioners! We are no way as cosmopolitan as London and do not have a Jewish community here, so some of your clever material would miss the mark. Really sorry to disappoint.’

Writing in the Jewish Chronicle, Price – a former finalist in the LGBTQ Comedian of the Year award – said the response came as a ‘punch to the stomach’.

She wrote: ‘Whilst not violently antisemitic to the point of saying, "I won’t book you because my audiences loathe Jews", it’s pretty obviously implying that the audience wouldn’t enjoy a comedy night with an openly Jewish act on the bill. (I shan’t dwell on the antisemitic iceberg of "cosmopolitan" in this context. I’m on a word count and you can imagine my point).’

She also said she felt let down comedy industry’s response after posting the email – with the promoter’s name obscured – to her 2,400 Instagram followers.

‘A few non-Jewish comedians messaged me privately, but these could be counted on one hand,’ she wrote. ‘I’d love to rely on my fellow comedians to publicly condemn this racism when they see it or hear about it…

‘I also can’t help but imagine how the comedy community might rally around me, had this promoter decided not to book me based upon my sexuality. I’d expect significantly more outrage online.’

Published: 26 Jul 2022