After a Jewish couple faced a torrent of abuse at the Edinburgh Fringe when they objected to a crass joke about Israel they hit back and say: Not one person in an audience of 300 had the courage to say 'stop!'
They had come to Britain for a romantic holiday and some much needed respite from the horrors at home.
But Shimon and Talia’s trip to the Edinburgh Fringe festival this week quickly turned into a hate-fuelled nightmare after the pair unexpectedly found themselves at the centre of an anti-Semitism row.
It was only their second night in the city when this charming and friendly Jewish-Israeli husband and wife were literally hounded out of a stand-up gig by the comedian Reginald D Hunter and a baying mob.
In a scene not dissimilar to the ‘Two Minutes Hate’ – a reference to George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984 in which citizens of Oceania are ordered to scream bile at their political enemies – more than 300 strangers turned on the couple, yelling expletives and jeering.
US comedian Reginald D Hunter has been accused of accused of 'encouraging a baying mob'
Not even as they tried to make their escape – with Talia supporting her disabled husband up the stairs past the crowd with the help of a theatre usher – did the abuse stop.
Their ‘crime’? They’d objected – politely – to a rather lame joke at Israel’s expense, in which the comedian compared the country to an abused wife who was also an abuser herself.
All they said was ‘not funny’, which seems fair comment in the stand-up comedy world, where every heckler has something to say. Yet, instantly the audience, egged on by Hunter, a 55-year-old American with past form for anti-Semetic material, erupted with shouts of ‘Free Palestine’, ‘Get the f*** out’, ‘Baby killers’ and ‘Genocidal Maniacs’.
The shameful incident was only exposed because Dominic Cavendish, chief theatre critic for The Daily Telegraph, happened to be watching the show Fluffy Fluffy Beavers at the Assembly George Square Gardens that evening. Awarding it one star, Cavendish described it as ‘the most unpleasant comedy gig’ he’d ever attended. Had he not been there, the incident could well have been swept under the carpet and surely forgotten.
As it stands now, however, Hunter was promptly axed from a forthcoming show by East Renfrewshire Council, who said: ‘We have a commitment to our community and to our values of diversity and inclusion, which we take very seriously.’
Police also investigated it as a hate incident but no charges were brought. Hunter himself offered an apology – of sorts – with a statement on Instagram in which he said he ‘regrets any stress caused to the audience and venue staff’ following an ‘unfortunate incident’ during his show. He added: ‘As a comedian I do push boundaries [but] I am staunchly anti-war and anti-bully.’
Not surprisingly, his ‘apology’ is not accepted by Shimon and Talia, who are still physically reeling from what happened to them.
The couple, who are in their 50s and were both born in England, told me in an exclusive interview that initially they had no intention of reporting what happened to authorities or sharing their story with the world. Indeed, so terrified are they of exposing themselves to even more abuse, they’ve asked not to be identified. Shimon and Talia are not their real names.
But now their experiences are out in the open they agreed to speak to this newspaper – on condition of anonymity – in the hope that their story will give other people the courage to stand up for what is right and to fight against racism and discrimination.
‘I am normally a really strong person,’ says Talia. ‘But it was horrible. Worse than horrible. Not one person in that audience of more than 300 people – not one – had the balls to stand up and say: “Stop this.”
‘It was meant to be a lovely holiday and now I just feel miserable.’
Even though their home country is currently a war zone, shockingly they say it is in the UK, not the Middle East, where they feel most unsafe at the moment.
'Talia', who was booed out of an Edinburgh Fringe gig and has asked not to be identified
‘You do not know for certain that Jews will always be safe in the UK,’ Shimon says. ‘No matter how much they might love Britain, Jews in this country will always have that mental backpack packed in case they need to flee.’
The couple’s brave decision to speak out comes just a week after anti-Semitism charity CST revealed that British Jews have suffered record levels of anti-Semitic hate crimes in the first half of this year – including incidences of extreme violence and arson attacks on Jewish property.
When Talia and Shimon decided to book tickets for Hunter’s comedy gig they had no idea what they were letting themselves in for.
Due to Shimon’s disability – he is a wheelchair user with severe mobility problems – the couple were opting for shows in venues that were accessible for him and didn’t require much walking to get to.
They were unaware that Hunter had been accused of anti-Semitism at the 2006 Fringe for carelessly joking about the Holocaust – or that he had separately come under fire for alleged misogyny and use of the N-word.
Upon arrival at the venue, staff ushered the couple into the theatre early and guided them towards the front row.
From the outset, however, the show was not to Talia’s taste. ‘After the first few jokes Talia nudged me and said she wanted to leave because she didn’t think the comedy was very good,’ says Shimon.
‘But it’s quite hard for me to just get up and leave because of my disability, so we decided to stay.’
About midway through his performance, Hunter came out with ‘that’ gag, saying he’d recently seen a Channel 5 documentary about an abusive wife who accuses her husband of abuse, remarking: ‘It’s like being married to Israel.’
There was a ripple of laughter but Shimon was not impressed by the ‘lazy joke’ as he described it, so quickly retorted with a quick, ‘not funny’. ‘It’s a comedy show – you’re normally allowed to heckle,’ Shimon explains.
‘Good comedians should be able to deal with a heckle without it being turned into absolute hatred.’
Instantly the atmosphere in the room shifted. Hunter spat back at Shimon: ‘I’ve been waiting for people like you all summer, where the f*** you been?’
And then the pile-on started. ‘The looks on people’s faces in the audience – it was like they wanted to attack us and beat us,’ Talia recalls. ‘There was so much hate in their eyes – angry that we were daring to be alive.’
Smirking, Hunter – spurred on by the hostility in the room – added: ‘You can say it’s not funny to you, but if you say it to a room full of people who laughed, you look foolish.’ According to the couple, he then raised his fists in a mock fighting stance and told them he’d meet them outside. ‘Where are the boys?’ he then laughed as the audience roared with approval.
So loud was the commotion that two young female ushers who were standing outside the auditorium overheard and rushed inside to see what the matter was. They offered to assist Shimon and help the pair leave, but they refused to go. ‘I didn’t want to leave the theatre,’ Shimon calmly insists.
‘I’m really not someone who is going to be bullied out of any room. Or thrown out of a building for being Jewish.’ Talia also refused to let the bullies win. In an incredible show of bravery, she stood up from her seat and turned around to face the crowd.
‘Without swearing and without screaming, I told the crowd that October 7 was the worst day for Jewish people since the Holocaust. I said that on that day women were raped en masse and innocent families were burned alive. I thought it was important that I had my say and calmly got my point across.’ But the abuse continued. ‘Look at you making everyone love Israel even more,’ Hunter reportedly sniped at Talia. ‘Don’t worry we will give you your money back for the ticket,’ he added, a comment that could be interpreted as a play on the racist and stereotypical idea that Jewish people are parsimonious.
He reportedly said: ‘Typical f***ing Jews, they won’t tell you anything unless you subscribe'
For more than five minutes the crowd – conducted by Hunter – booed, hissed and jeered until Shimon and Talia finally decided they had no choice but to leave. ‘We didn’t leave the room because we were scared,’ Talia insists. ‘We left because they made me feel sick to be around such vile people. In reality the venue should have intervened to protect the victims – us – and thrown out the people who were threatening us.
‘Public places should not allow hatred or bullying of anyone because of their nationality, ethnicity or religion but somehow this seems OK at the Fringe in Edinburgh in the UK.’
But for Talia and Shimon the most disappointing part of the incident wasn’t Hunter’s anti-Semitic comments – it was the reaction of the crowd.
‘No one stood up for us,’ says Talia. ‘What has happened to people in the UK that means they are not prepared to stand up against bullying?’
As the couple rose from their seats to leave the auditorium, the jeers intensified.
Even when it become clear that Shimon was disabled and it would take him several minutes to leave, no restraint was shown.
‘It took us a while – maybe five or ten minutes – to walk from our seats to the exit and all the upheaval didn’t stop.’
It was the Telegraph critic who remained inside the theatre who revealed that after the couple had left, Hunter’s hate-filled tirade continued. ‘Typical f***ing Jews, they won’t tell you anything unless you subscribe,’ he reportedly said before quickly adding: ‘It’s just a joke.’ Shimon saw the Telegraph’s review the next morning after one of his friends shared it on Facebook. Overnight the story blew up and Shimon and Talia found themselves the subject of dozens of articles.
Andrew Gilbert, Vice President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews said: ‘This disgraceful incident – and the reaction of the audience – brings shame to the Edinburgh Fringe. The initial jab about Israel then being followed by a line about “f***ing Jews” exposes, yet again, the true sentiments behind so much of the “anti-Israel” movement.
‘Given that this show has been promoted under the auspice of the Fringe, we would expect the festival’s organisers to make it clear that anti-Semitism under the guise of “comedy” is still anti-Semitism.’
Dani Rae Managing Director of Assembly George Square Gardens said: ‘We are saddened that members of our audience have had a negative experience and I would like to say how truly sorry I am for any distress felt in our venue. We have been unable to contact the couple after the incident and would encourage them to reach out to us.
‘Our front of house team attended to the patrons at the time, assisting them in leaving the venue and offered them support. We would also like to take the opportunity to encourage audiences to be respectful of one another.’
Initially reluctant to draw attention to the incident, Talia and Shimon now want to use their platform to spread awareness about the rising wave of anti-Semitism and anti-Israeli racism in Britain.
‘I do have an important message to get across and that is that people must stand up and not let hate win,’ says Talia.
‘I’ve always spoken out, whether it’s about something Jewish or not. I abhor bullies.
‘And it is my firm belief that silence only helps the aggressor.’
