London’s Metropolitan police are investigating British comedian Dane Baptiste after the star posted on social media, reportedly directed at a female Jewish comedian, “I’ll sit in prison while your family sit at the cemetery,” according to an exclusive by Jewish News.
The now deleted-post led to Baptiste’s agent dropping him as a client.
Local police confirmed to Jewish News 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 comedian, speaking anonymously to the paper, said that she had not seen Baptiste in ten years until recently, when she bumped into him at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
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
— Josh Howie (@joshxhowie) May 1, 2024
She said that when she did see Baptiste, the communication was limited to a “hi, how are you?”
Baptiste’s apology for the post
Last week, 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.”
— Dane Baptiste/A$ap BAP/Joke Dza (@DaneBaptweets) May 2, 2024