Couple in Fringe row named as long-term activitsts, but blast 'nutty' conspiracy theories

The couple booed out of Reginald D Hunter’s show after heckling an anti-Israel joke are long-term antisemitism campaigners Mark Lewis and Mandy Blumenthal, Chortle can confirm.

They had remained anonymous since last Sunday’s incident by were this morning named on social media – including by Hunter himself.

But their prominence has prompted some of Hunter’s fans to say the incident was a ‘set-up’ – a charge they strongly deny. 

Lewis, a lawyer who came to prominence representing the victims of newspaper phone hacking, was made an honorary patron of the Campaign Against Antisemitism in 2018, having long given them legal advice pro bono. And Blumenthal is the national director of Likud-Herut UK, a Zionist political group, and her X biography reads: ‘Proud To be Zionist/Jew/Israeli/British.’

In 2017 the UK-born couple hit the headlines when they announced they were leaving Britain after being bombarded by anti-Semitic abuse and death threats by Jeremy Corbyn supporters. They have Israeli citizenship and had been visiting Britain for a wedding as well as attending the Fringe. 

Tensions escalated at last weekend’s gig when Lewis – who has multiple sclerosis – called out ‘not funny’ after Hunter cracked a joke likening an abusive husband to the state of Israel. The crowd turned on the couple yelling ‘genocidal maniac’ and ‘you’re not welcome’ as they made their way out of the Assembly George Square Studios.

Responding to accusations that they had gone to the show to stir up trouble, Blumethal told Chortle: ‘Of course, we didn’t go to the show specifically to be offended. 

‘For such a libellous and nutty conspiracy theory to work we’d have needed to know what Hunter was going to say. Believe me, I never made Hunter be antisemitic. His comment "typical f**king Jews" always wanting money is all him.’

The couple have said Hunter raised his fists at them in a mock fighting stance and told them he’d meet them ‘outside’, and said he offered to refund their money if they left.

After the couple did leave the venue, the comedian joked about trying to read a review of his act on The Jewish Chronicle website, but said: ‘Typical fucking Jews, they won’t tell you anything unless you subscribe.’

Blumethal added: ‘I understood that Jews were welcome at the Fringe. We picked none shows, some brilliant, like Nina Conti, some not so good. 

‘Reginald D Hunter started poor with an absurd conspiracy theory about the shooting of Donald Trump. He was always forgetting his lines, abandoning jokes and then his poor joke about Israel. 

‘A supposed professional comedian’s response was to wave his fists, threaten us with "outside" and call for help from "the boys". He incited the audience to attack us, went to the anti-Jewish trope, "don’t worry about the money, I’ll give it you from my own pocket"

‘We picked him because of name recognition from HIGNFY.  Had we known what a revolting racist he was then we wouldn’t have bothered seeing him.  My husband’s heckle was that Hunter wasn’t funny. He wasn’t.’

When revealing their identity this morning, Hunter posted: ‘Reginald was astonished to discover that these MYSTERIOUS PEOPLES were connected to VERY MYSTERIOUS COLLECTIVES such as the CAA, the UKLFI  [UK Lawyers for Israel] and Herut UK.’

It prompted fans to post messages of support such as ‘This sounds like a setup, Reg! They knew you are pro-Palestine and went on purpose to stir up trouble for you’, and ‘So they were plants, sitting in the front row and ready to cause a fuss. Then use that momentum in the press to cause more drama, amplify it and claim to be victims of antisemitism. Disgusting people.’

However other respondents said the identity of the couple made no difference.

One said: ‘Instead of this being some elaborate conspiracy against you perhaps telling an antisemitic ‘joke’ is why people are upset. Take responsibility.

‘That’s an awful lot of writing to say you were caught by a journalist who was in the audience when you incited racial hatred towards a Jewish couple. Most people should just say sorry.’

Police have said  no crime took place at the show, having looked into reports that it was a ‘hate incident’. Hunter lost one gig, in East Renfrewshire, following the controversy.

The incident was witnessed by Daily Telegraph reviewer Dominic  Cavendish, who called it ‘the ugliest Fringe moment I’ve ever witnessed’.

Hunter has previously said he ‘regretted’ what happened, but stopping short of an apology.

In a social media post, he called it an ‘unfortunate incident’, saying: ‘As a comedian I do push boundaries in creating humour, it's part of my job. This inevitably creates divided opinions but I am staunchly anti-war and anti-bully. I regret any stress caused to the audience and staff members.’

In a statement, the Campaign Against Antisemitism previously said:  ‘Comedians are rightly given broad latitude, but they also have a responsibility to their audience. 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. Our lawyers are examining this incident.'

Published: 18 Aug 2024