Continued fallout from antisemitism storm

More venues  have cancelled Reginald D Hunter gigs after his run-in with hecklers at the Edinburgh Fringe sparked an antisemitism storm.

The comic was due to appear at both Manchester’s Laugharama festival and London’s Greenwich comedy festival next month – both run by the same promoter – but he is no longer on the line-up.

Meanwhile, Harrow Council in North London has confirmed he will be not be performing at their arts centre in October because of  the row, following a similar decision by another council-run venue, Eastwood Theatre in Giffnock, near Glasgow.

Scenes at Hunter’s Fringe show reportedly turned ugly when Israeli-UK nationals Mark Lewis and Mandy Blumenthal heckled him over a joke likening the Israeli state to an abusive husband. The crowd turned on the couple, jeering allegedly antisemitic taunts, until they left the Assembly George Square venue, with Hunter finally urging calm.

Police Scotland were alerted over the incident – which the comic later said he regretted – but concluded no hate crime had been committed.

Organisers of the Manchester and Greenwich gigs, 57 Festivals, have issued no statement about Hunter, and have not yet responded to Chortle’s request for comment on why he is no longer appearing.

However it follows lobbying by Manchester Jewish Representative Council – who accused Hunter of ‘amplifying the voices of those espousing anti Jewish racism’ – and North West Friends of Israel, to have him removed from the September 7 show.

And Harrow Council told Jewish News: ‘We champion arts and culture in Harrow and strongly support freedom of speech. However, we also take seriously our duty to foster good relations with people – something we take great pride at in Harrow.

‘Recent comments and events relating to Reginald D Hunter do not reflect our values of diversity, inclusion, and good community relations. We were also particularly concerned of reports about the treatment of audience members at his recent show in Edinburgh. We have therefore taken the decision to remove this act from the mixed bill comedy show at Harrow Arts Centre on October 11.’

A few days after the storm erupted, Hunter made a statement about the ‘unfortunate incident’ at the Fringe 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.’

He has subsequently retweeted posts referring to him as ‘the latest target of pro-Israel provocateurs feigning victimhood’ and how the ‘right wing mainstream media manipulated the story to suit their political agenda’.

Published: 26 Aug 2024