British comedian investigated for social media death threats against a Jewish woman

The London Metropolitan Police are investigating British comedian Dane Baptiste, who posted a death threat against a Jewish woman on his social media.

„I’ll sit in prison while your family sit at the cemetery,” posted Baptise in the now deleted post, reports The Jerusalem Post.

The public death threat came after Baptiste accused his victim of „stalking” his family’s social media accounts. According to sources, the Jewish comedian against whom Baptiste made the threat merely looked at an Instagram post publicly shared by Baptiste’s girlfriend.

The police confirmed that „Enquiries are being made in relation to a post reported to police by a number of social media users on Wednesday 1 May. We have since made contact with a number of people who are helping our enquiries. We would continue to urge anyone who has information which could help our enquiries to contact police on 101, quoting CAD8660/01MAY24.”

The Jewish woman referred to in Baptiste’s post is a comedian. Speaking anonymously, she told the Jewish News that she had not seen Baptiste in ten years until recently when she bumped into him at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. They only exchanged a few words of polite conversation.

Josh Howie on Twitter: „Ive known and liked Dane Baptiste a long time. I’m also a fan of his comedy. So I’ve somewhat held back as he’s descended down the rabbit hole of Jew hatred. But this is the end point – openly threatening Jewish, I mean ‘Zionist’, women. The priority now is this woman’s safety. pic.twitter.com/WMDS6S1AiF / Twitter”

Ive known and liked Dane Baptiste a long time. I’m also a fan of his comedy. So I’ve somewhat held back as he’s descended down the rabbit hole of Jew hatred. But this is the end point – openly threatening Jewish, I mean ‘Zionist’, women. The priority now is this woman’s safety.

Baptiste posted an apology for his threats on social media.

„In the recent past, I have received a number of threatening and abusive messages from accounts accusing me of antisemitism for having pro-Palestinian views,” Baptiste wrote. „I have a new family and my partner made me aware that some of these same people were monitoring her Instagram account.

„In a massive error of judgement, I posted an excessive and impulsive response, hoping to dissuade anybody monitoring my family. I made a point to say Zionist and not Jewish, but I appreciate how disturbing, threatening and incendiary that language is. I would categorically state I have no ill intention towards the Jewish community and never have.

„I have a loving family of which I am massively protective of; I reacted poorly and emotionally to a perceived threat with no considered thought to the consequences, and I apologise profusely for my actions to the Jewish community, my colleagues and my fans.”

Baptiste did not address the death threat directly, nor did he apologise to his victim. The Metropolitan Police are investigating the incident, and Baptiste has been dropped as a client by his new agent, Gag Reflex.