More venues cancel Reginald D Hunter
Comedian will not now appear in Glasgow, Manchester, Greenwich or Harrow
Jenni Frazer is a freelance journalist
Two more venues — Greenwich and Harrow — have cancelled appearances by the comedian Reginald D Hunter after his altercation at his Edinburgh show earlier in August led to accusations of antisemitism — which the US-born Hunter denies.
Following the performance in Edinburgh, which led to the walk-out of Israeli-UK nationals Mark Lewis and Mandy Blumenthal, a scheduled appearance by Hunter at the Eastwood Theatre in Giffnock, south of Glasgow, was cancelled by East Renfrewshire Council. Giffnock is home to Scotland’s biggest Jewish community.
After protests by the Manchester Jewish Representative Council and North West Friends of Israel, Hunter was removed from the line-up at the Laughterama festival, set to take place in the city between September 4 and 8.
The same company which runs Laughterama also runs the Greenwich Comedy festival, which takes place outside the premises of the National Maritime Museum. Inquiries showed that Hunter had once again been removed from the Greenwich comedy line-up — he was due to have appeared on September 14.
And on Friday, Harrow Council confirmed to Jewish News that Hunter would not be appearing at Harrow Arts centre on October 11. A spokesman said: “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.”
Hunter, who is active on social media. has not commented on the string of cancellations.
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