An Edinburgh Fringe show hosted by Reginald D Hunter has been cleared by police who say no hate crime was committed.
Two Israeli audience members were said to have been “hounded out” of the gig and Police Scotland confirmed it received a report of a “hate incident”.
A Police Scotland spokeswoman said in a statement to the PA news agency: “We were made aware of a hate incident, which reportedly took place at an event in Edinburgh on Sunday, 11 August, 2024.
“All information gathered was fully reviewed and no crime was established.”
Two members of the audience were booed out of the Assembly George Square Studios after they objected to Hunter’s joke comparing Israel to an abusive spouse, it said.
Meanwhile the comedian, who has been a regular on TV appearing in Have I Got News for You and 8 out of 10 Cats among other shows, said it was an “unfortunate incident” and expressed “regret” for “any stress caused to the audience and venue staff members”.
However, he insisted in a social media post he was a “good comedian” who had been responding to hecklers while allegations of antisemitism were designed to “shut done criticism” of Israel.
The controversy was sparked when Hunter made reference to a Channel 5 documentary titled My Wife, My Abuser, about an abusive partner who publicly claimed that her victim was guilty of abusing her.
Witnesses said Hunter told the audience: “When I saw that, I thought, my God, it’s like being married to Israel.”
Hunter was heard telling the audience members, who said they were from Israel and one of whom was disabled, to leave after they briefly heckled him over the joke, the Telegraph reported.
As they left his show, called Fluffy Fluffy Beavers, they were booed and heckled with expletives from other audience members.
Hunter went on to use foul language while referencing racist stereotypes about Jews.
The Campaign Against Antisemitism has labelled the claims as “extremely concerning” and called on witnesses to come forward.
A spokesman for Police Scotland said: “We have been made aware of a hate incident, which reportedly took place at an event in Edinburgh on Aug 11 2024. We are reviewing the circumstances.”
New hate crime laws in Scotland came into force in April, which make it an offence to “stir up hatred” against protected groups, including Jews.
In a post on social media, Hunter said: “There was an unfortunate incident in my new show. As a comedian, I do push boundaries in creating humour, it’s part of my job.
“This inevitably creates divided opinions and I am staunchly anti-war and anti-bully. I regret any stress caused to the audience and venue staff members.”
The Campaign Against Antisemitism said in a statement that its lawyers were “examining this incident”.
A spokesman told the Telegraph: “Comedians are rightly given broad latitude, but they also have a responsibility to their audience.
“Reginald D Hunter has laughed off his Holocaust jokes... in the past, but watching on and 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.”
The Assembly Festival, which runs the venue, stated: “We are aware of an audience member choosing to leave Reginald D Hunter’s performance on Sunday Aug 11.
“The venue front of house team attended and supported the member of the public upon exiting.”
