Comedian Reginald D Hunter has said he “regrets any stress” caused after two Israeli audience members were booed out of his Edinburgh Fringe Festival gig, according to witnesses.

The US stand-up was reportedly heard telling the pair to leave his Fluffy Fluffy Beavers show on Sunday night after they heckled him over a joke, calling it “not funny”, The Telegraph reported.

According to people who saw the show, the 55-year-old made a joke comparing Israel to an abusive partner, which got a laugh from the majority of those at the show in the Assembly George Square Studios on Sunday.

In a statement addressing the incident, Hunter said on Thursday: “There was an unfortunate incident in my new show ‘Fluffy Fluffy Beaver’.

“As a comedian, I do push boundaries in creating humour, it’s part of my job.

“This inevitably created divided opinions but I am staunchly anti-war and anti-bully. I regret any stress caused to the audience and venue staff members.”

Dominic Cavendish, chief theatre critic at The Telegraph who attended the show, said it was the “most unpleasant comedy gig I’ve ever attended”.

“In the past I’ve had time for Hunter, a free-thinking outsider, who has lived in the UK since 1997,” Cavendish wrote in his review of the show.

Read more from Sky News:
Olympian hits out at ‘devastating’ abuse
Ballerina jailed for 12 years in Russia
UK health officials preparing for mpox cases

Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News

“But here he gave an object lesson in how not to pick on people in the front row. Instead of tolerating the couple’s joint heckle, he doubled down with a sinister air of beaming bellicosity.”

The charity Campaign Against Antisemitism said the events were “extremely concerning”.

“Comedians are rightly given broad latitude, but they also have a responsibility to their audience… watching on and cracking jokes as Jews are hounded out of your show is a sickening low that cannot be disguised as comedy,” a spokesperson said.

Related posts:

Tickets for Peter Kay’s stage comeback sell out in 30 minutes James Bond, Back To The Future and Star Wars memorabilia in £5.5m movie props auction Court set to rule on ending Britney Spears’ father’s control of her life Dizzee Rascal’s ex-fiancee speaks out after grime artist found guilty of assault ‘I’m always surprised by the lack of black and brown faces’ – Sir Lenny Henry discusses diversity at UK festivals ‘I love him’: Amber Heard says she has no ‘bad feelings’ towards Johnny Depp – and realises she is not a ‘perfect’ victim 11 shots from Harry and Meghan’s doco glimpse and what they show Rapper Coolio’s cause of death announced Dua Lipa sued over hit song in £15m lawsuit The Enfield Poltergeist: How new docudrama uses the Hodgson sisters and 200 hours of tapes Pete Doherty reveals he has Type 2 diabetes in health update Oppenheimer continues awards season domination ahead of Oscars