A venue has admitted discriminating against a Jewish comedian when it cancelled his show at least year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Philip Simon, a stand-up comedian, was set to perform his show “Shall I Compere Thee In A Funny Way” at the Banshee Labyrinth, on the city’s Niddry Street.
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But the venue cancelled his show, claiming it was because of his views on the Gaza conflict.
In a statement given at the time to industry magazine Chortle, the venue said Mr Simon had views which “align with the rhetoric and symbology of groups associated with humanitarian violations”.
The comedian then took legal action against the venue, saying he had been cancelled “just for being Jewish”.
At an Edinburgh sheriff court on Monday, David Welsh said the Banshee Labyrinth had admitted to acting unlawfully.
“Following the defence’s concession … the whole issue of liability has now been resolved in the pursuer’s favour. The pursuer has been entirely successful on the question of liability,” the lawyer told the court.
In a statement issued after the case, Mr Simon said: “I’m pleased Banshee Labyrinth has eventually admitted they discriminated against me and that this draws a line under part of a stressful ordeal that I’ve endured for over a year now.
“It is a shame that Banshee Labyrinth decided to let this run all the way to just before the court hearing, rather than accepting any of our previous settlement offers that included an apology, antisemitism training and making a contribution to an antisemitism charity.
“For them to have defended the case for months, only to admit they discriminated at the very last minute, has made the whole situation even more upsetting.”
He also said the case was “never about money”, but standing against the idea a performer could be “cancelled because of their religion”.
Campaign Against Antisemitism, a charity which raises awareness of and counters antisemitism in Britain condemned the actions of the venue.
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A spokesman for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “This should never have got as far as court, as demonstrated by the fact that having dragged its heels for over a year, Banshee Labyrinth had to admit on the first day of the hearing that it did in fact discriminate against Philip Simon.
“This is yet another example of Jews being forced to take a ‘purity test’ or, worse still, have assumptions being made about their morals purely on the basis of being Jewish.
“The arts are becoming an increasingly hostile place for Jewish performers. Let this serve as an example that venues cannot discriminate against Jewish artists with impunity.
“When they do, British Jews will fight back and those responsible will be held to account.”
Speaking in cour, lawyer Mr Welsh admonished Banshee Labyrinth, saying it “dragged out proceedings” despite being well aware the defence was “untenable”.
This resulted in Mr Simon incurring “avoidable expenses” throughout the case.
“There was never a need for the action to reach the court in the first place, if the defender had behaved reasonably,” Mr Welsh added.
Representing the venue, Darren Cox disputed the claim.
Sheriff Roderick Flinn, the judge, told the court the venue had acted “unreasonably” by waiting too long to admit it had discriminated against the stand-up.
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