US comedian Reginald D Hunter has revealed his daughter hasn’t spoken to him in two years amid his “cancellation” scandal.
The comic, 57, faced outrage in 2024 for making a joke comparing Israel to an abusive spouse during his Edinburgh Fringe show - which landed badly with a British-Israeli couple in the audience.
The audience members were reportedly “hounded out” of the show for objecting to the gag, in an incident that sparked accusations of antisemitism.
Hate crime inquiry and fallout
Scotland Police launched a hate crime enquiry and found that no crime took place at the show, although Hunter said he has still been in “comedy jail” since. Many of his shows were cancelled and he also faced an unsuccessful private prosecution brought by the Campaign Against Antisemitism over his social media posts.
He claimed the fallout has affected his relationship with his daughter, whom he met for the first time in 2016 when she was a teenager.
Comeback show revelations
He said at a comeback comedy show in Walthamstow, east London: “I have moments when I think to myself, I messed up real bad by making that joke because it’s affected all the people who depended on me.
“I’m estranged from my family. My daughter hasn’t spoken to me for two years, and I have all kinds of tax problems,” he told the crowd, according to The Telegraph.
He added: “I got cancelled 22 months ago at the Edinburgh Festival because I did this joke about Israel, and before I knew it, I was playing off-the-grid places like this, talking to motherf*****s like you.”
Hunter also revealed during the gig that he is returning to perform at Edinburgh this year for the first time since 2024.
The joke and audience reaction
He faced backlash at the Fringe after comparing Israel to a Channel 5 documentary about domestic abuse.
He reportedly told the audience: “When I saw that, I thought, my God, it’s like being married to Israel.”
While the comment sparked laughter from the audience, a couple on the front row, who said they were Israeli, objected saying it was “not funny”.
They were sworn at, called “genocidal” and told, “You’re not welcome” by fellow spectators, some of whom shouted “Free Palestine”, according to reports at the time.
In a review, The Telegraph called it the “ugliest Edinburgh Fringe moment ever”.
Private prosecution quashed
In December, a summons against Hunter by the Campaign Against Antisemitism was quashed after a judge ruled the “abusive” private prosecution was intended to get the comedian “cancelled”.
He had been accused of three counts of sending an offensive communication on three different occasions in 2024 to Heidi Bachram on X.
The judge said the CAA was seeking to use the criminal justice system for “improper reasons” in the case.
He said the summary of Bachram’s tweeting in the application case summary was “wholly inadequate”.
“It did not reveal the extent of her tweets directed against Reginald Hunter in the period immediately preceding the complaints (her tweets were sent between 15 August and 11 September 2024),” he added.
“The summary misled me into believing that his comments were addressed to her involvement with the Jewish faith as opposed to his response to attempts that were being made to have him ‘cancelled’.”
After his win, Hunter wrote on Instagram “I sure hope I’m employable again!” and thanked his legal team.
