Jewish comedian on ‘receiving end of antisemitic slurs’ after Edinburgh show
BAFTA-nominated funnyman Bennett Arron claims top agent screamed screamed 'Jews should never have been given Israel'
Lee Harpin is the Jewish News's political editor
A Jewish comedian appearing at the Edinburgh Fringe has claimed a famous agent responsible for some ‘well known’ acts subjected him to antisemitic slurs after he had performing his latest show.
BAFTA-nominated funnyman Bennett Arron, who has been described to a ‘Welsh Seinfeld’, claimed on social media that the unnamed “agent of some well-known comedians” had decided to “scream at me in a bar that Jews exaggerate antisemitism and that other minority groups have real justification for complaint but not Jews”.
Arron said his family had been present at the venue to watch him perform his new show titled Loser.
But tweeting afterwards he claimed: “Bit upsetting. The agent of some well-known comedians decided to scream at me in a bar, in front of my family who had come to celebrate my success at the Fringe, that Jews exaggerate antisemitism and that other minority groups have real justification for complaint but not Jews.
“He also went on to scream that Jews should never have been given Israel and that Jews smeared Jeremy Corbyn.
“When I asked if we could discuss this another time as he was upsetting my family, he shouted “See THEY always do this!
“It really spoilt what had been a wonderful festival.”
Bit upsetting. The Agent of some well known comedians decided to scream at me in a bar, in front of my family who had come to celebrate my success at the Fringe, that Jews exaggerate antisemitism and that other minority groups have real justification for complaint but not Jews.
— Bennett Arron ???????????????????????????? (@BennettArron) August 28, 2023
Arron had been a regular at Edinburgh and this was his seventh time performing at the Fringe and his fifth solo show.
The first time he appeared the festival was as a finalist in the BBC’s New Comedy Awards where he was the joint runner-up with Peter Kay.
Describing his latest show he had said:”It is the most personal, cathartic and, say those who have seen it, funniest show I have ever done. The main premise of it is that I look back over my life and decide whether or not I really am a loser.”
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