Two Jewish comedians have claimed their shows have been cancelled on the Edinburgh Fringe this year because of “safety concerns” from staff at the venue.
Rachel Creeger was set to perform her show ‘Ultimate Jewish Mother’ at Whistlebinkies during the annual arts festival, while Philip Simon was due to host a ‘Jew-O-Rama’ of Jewish comedic talents at the same venue. However, both acts claimed they were told their gigs would be cancelled because bar staff at the venue expressed fears of being “unsafe”.
Organisers of the Fringe said they were working to find alternative venues for the performers, but politicians and comedians have raised concerns about the move at a time when antisemitism is on the rise in the UK.
“This would have been the third year in a row of that specific show at that venue,” Ms Creeger told Times Radio on Sunday. “When it comes to safety they said that they felt the extra safety precautions that many Jewish performers are subject to at the moment due to rising antisemitism made them feel, ironically, more unsafe.
“The precautions included [that] when the extra police allocated for the festival had their beat patrols allocated they would pass by the beginning and the end of where Jewish shows were happening, so nothing invasive to the venue, and having some contact numbers by the phone in case they needed advice or to report any kind of antisemitic incident.
“They also cited that they had increased graffiti in their venue since having us which they found threatening – we’re not sure why, we certainly weren’t the people creating the graffiti – but they claim that they had to repaint toilet doors where most of the graffiti was happening on a regular basis.
“The shows are not political, we’re not political performers.”
Ms Creeger said that just last year, the venue had gone to great lengths to say the venue was a safe space and they would ensure the comedians always had a positive experience there.
While initially there had been plans to swap venues so they could still perform, it was too late to make these arrangements, The Telegraph reported. Their shows no longer appear on the Edinburgh Fringe listings website.
Mr Simon – who said that another venue in the city had also cancelled one of his shows – claimed that he was being “cancelled just for being Jewish”.
“Anyone who knows me will know I have never expressed support for anything other than freeing the hostages and finding a way for peace,” he said. “It is sad to think that these views could conflict with anyone who wants to see a lasting peace in Gaza and Israel.
“As a Jewish person living in Britain it is possible, and increasingly common, to have a love for Israel without supporting the actions of the government.”
Israel’s deputy foreign minister Sharren Haskel criticised the reported cancellations.
“It’s a shocking decision and it should be reversed,” she told The Independent. “This is further proof of the normalisation of antisemitism in the UK.”
And shadow Scotland Secretary Andrew Bowie told Times Radio: “That is a shocking state of affairs. Everybody should be welcome to this country, regardless of their faith, regardless of where they’ve come from, to perform at the Edinburgh festival or anywhere else for that matter.
“The very fact that is happening in the United Kingdom in 2025 speaks very ill of the state of affairs in this country and demonstrates what we were warning of a few years ago in terms of the rise of antisemitism in this country is real and something we should be combating at the very highest level.
The Independent has reached out to the Edinburgh Fringe, Free Fringe and Whistlebinkies for comment.
PBH Free Fringe CEO Luke Meredith told Chortle: “The decision not to host the two shows was taken by the venue alone. So far as we understand, this was a staff decision based on last year’s experience when they experienced a significant rise in both ‘Free Palestine’ and Zionist graffiti, together with police notices that they said made them feel unsafe.
“The matter was first brought to our attention in late May, after the print deadline for the brochure had passed. I thought at the time that, having explained the police were only taking precautions and no actual threats had been made, and that moving them after they were already advertised in print might be detrimental, that the matter had been resolved. Apparently however it had been understood that we were to move the shows.
“I was made aware of this a week ago and since then we have been working with the shows to try and find them a suitable replacement slot, including approaching other organisations. Nothing has been possible so far but we welcome any offer of help. If anyone has a space in central Edinburgh that would like to host them, we would be happy to run it.”
This is not the first time that the Fringe has faced questions over alleged antisemitism. Last year, American standup comedian Reginald D Hunter found himself at the centre of an antisemitism row at the Fringe when two Israeli people were heckled and booed at his gig after they objected to a joke comparing Israel to an abusive spouse.
