American comedian Reginald D. Hunter was involved in an anti-Semitic incident at the Fringe Festival.

US comedian Reginald D. Hunter has said in a statement that there was an “unfortunate incident” during his performance at the Edinburgh Fringe after it was reported that two Israeli audience members were booed out of his show.

Police are investigating a report of a “hate incident” at Hunter’s Fluffy Fluffy Beavers show at Assembly George Square Studios.

A Police Scottish spokesman said: “We have been made aware of a hate incident that reportedly occurred at an event in Edinburgh on Sunday 11 August. We are investigating the circumstances.”

Hunter, 55, is said to have made a joke comparing Israel to an abusive partner when he spoke about watching a television documentary about an abusive marriage.

“When I saw that, I thought, my God, it's like I'm married to Israel,” he joked.

Two Israeli audience members shouted at him and said it was “not funny,” to which the comedian replied: “You can say you don't find it funny, but if you say that in a room full of people who are laughing, you look stupid.”

As the two left the venue, they were booed by other spectators. Hunter is said to have then joked about the Jewish Chronicle newspaper being behind a paywall and said that this was “typically Jewish”.

The stand-up comedian issued a statement saying: “An unfortunate incident occurred during my new show Fluffy Fluffy Beavers. As a comedian, I push the boundaries of creating humour, it's part of my job. This inevitably led to divided opinion, but I am firmly against war and bullying. I regret any distress this has caused to the audience and venue staff.”

The charity Campaign Against Anti-Semitism said the “events described at the Edinburgh Fringe are extremely worrying”.

In a post on X, a spokesperson for the organization said: “Comedians are rightly given a lot of leeway, but they also have a responsibility to their audience.”

“Reginald D. Hunter has laughed in the past at his Holocaust jokes and another alleged joke about 'f***ing typical Jews,' but watching and joking about Jews being kicked off your own show is a sickening low point that can't be disguised as comedy.”

The post ended with the words: “We have seen this before in recent months and venues must take strong action against this type of behavior. Our lawyers are investigating this incident.”

Following the incident, the Eastwood Park Theatre on the outskirts of Glasgow has cancelled the comedian's performance scheduled for next month.

East Renfrewshire Council, which owns the venue, said: “We have taken the decision to cancel Eastwood Park Theatre's show featuring Reginald D. Hunter scheduled for Saturday 28 September due to controversial comments made during a recent performance. All customers who purchased tickets for this show will receive a full refund.”

Additional sources • The Telegraph, Chortle comedy