Agents for Dane Baptiste have parted ways with the comedian after a now-deleted social media post that appeared to threaten a woman.
The stand-up, who has appeared on comedy panel shows including Mock The Week and 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown and fronted the BBC Three sketch programme Bamous, apologised to the “Jewish community, my colleagues and my fans” on Thursday.
A spokesperson for DLT Entertainment’s Gag Reflex, which looks after comedy talent, confirmed to the PA news agency that it no longer represents Baptiste.
A spokesman for another agency, Insanity, said that the company was “no longer working with him” after it told Baptiste his remarks were “at odds with our values and what we stand for”.
— Dane Baptiste/A$ap BAP/Joke Dza (@DaneBaptweets) May 2, 2024
“As an organisation, we do not tolerate hate speech of any kind and are committed to the values of respect and tolerance for all,” the statement added.
Baptiste’s post on Wednesday has been reported to the Metropolitan Police by social media users. The force has confirmed it is making “inquiries”.
The comedian said on X, formerly Twitter, that he made a “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.
“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.
A spokesman for the Met Police said: “Inquiries are being made in relation to a post reported to police by a number of social media users on Wednesday May 1.
“We have since made contact with a number of people who are helping our inquiries.
“We would continue to urge anyone who has information which could help our inquiries to contact police on 101, quoting CAD8660/01MAY24.”
Baptiste has been contacted for additional comment.