Comedian Dane Baptiste has apologised to the “Jewish community, my colleagues and my fans” over a now-deleted social media post that appeared to threaten a woman.
The stand-up has appeared on shows including Live At The Apollo, Richard Osman’s House Of Games, Mock The Week and 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown – and fronted the BBC Three sketch programme Bamous.
Baptiste said on X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday that he made an “massive error of judgment” following “a number of threatening and abusive messages from accounts accusing me of antisemitism for having pro-Palestinian views”.
“I have a new family and my partner made me aware that some of these same people were monitoring her Instagram account,” Baptiste added.
“In a massive error of judgment, I posted an excessive and impulsive response, hoping to dissuade anybody monitoring my family.
— Dane Baptiste/A$ap BAP/Joke Dza (@DaneBaptweets) May 2, 2024
“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.”
Fellow comedians David Baddiel and Marcus Brigstocke had both criticised an Instagram story, in which Baptiste appeared to hit out at an unnamed comedian for looking at his family’s social media page.
In the original post, Baptiste made a reference to her “safety” and claimed he would be on her “literal doorstep”.
“Your agent won’t keep you safe,” he also wrote. “And I’ll sit in prison while your family sit at the cemetery.
“First and last warning. Your act is dumb but don’t be a dumb woman. For your own safety.”
Brigstocke wrote on X that Baptiste’s comment “wasn’t vague and cannot be justified” and he refuses to “stay silent while only Jewish friends speak up”.
Baddiel, who wrote a book and fronted a Channel 4 documentary called Jews Don’t Count, took issue with a word being used, saying that Zionist “sometimes that word implies a distinct belief system” and is a “more acceptable way” of referring to Jewish people.
Baptiste was the first black comedian to be nominated for the award for best newcomer at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards in 2014.