After antisemitic heckling, comedian says fellow Jews sent death threats and abuse

Jewish comedian Lucas Zelnick said on Friday that he had received death threats and a torrent of abuse after posting footage of an antisemitic heckler at one of his shows, saying he was disturbed in particular by attacks from fellow Jews angry over his criticism of Israel.

Speaking on his “Mommy Issues with Lucas Zelnick” podcast, Zelnick said the backlash followed a Sunday night performance in San Francisco at which a woman in the audience went on what he described as an antisemitic rant, telling him that Jews were evil.

Zelnick said he posted footage of the exchange because he was proud of the way he responded, attempting to engage the woman rather than insult her or have her thrown out.

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“The point of putting out the clip to me was someone was being antisemitic to me,” he said, adding that he hoped to demonstrate how hatred could be confronted “through discussion, through question asking, and through an attempt to understand someone else’s perspective.”

But after the video began spreading widely online, Zelnick said on his podcast he received intense abuse from two different groups.

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He said he heard from “a lot of Nazis,” as well as from Jewish critics angered by his views on Israel, some of whom accused him of being a “self-loathing Jew” or a “kapo,” a term referring to Jewish prisoners who were forced to work as supervisors for the Nazis in concentration camps.

“Basically, you’re a self-loathing Jew and you need to, you know, die,” Zelnick said, describing some of the messages.

He read aloud emails attacking his comedy career and accusing him of falsely charging Israel with genocide in Gaza — a claim he noted he had not made in the clip — as well as one that described his criticism of Israel as a “mental disorder.”

Zelnick said the response left him feeling alienated from a Jewish identity that, for him, had long been associated with values including education, debate, compassion and liberal thinking.

“The fact that I’m getting the exact same reaction to this video from Jews and Nazis is like terrifying,” he said.

He stressed that he viewed criticism of Israel and antisemitism as separate issues, saying some Muslim and pro-Palestinian friends had reached out to express sympathy over the heckling even when they disagreed with him politically.

“I still see Jewish people who I don’t agree with on Israel” as part of his community, Zelnick said, but added that the hostile reaction had made him feel that some of those people did not view him the same way.

Heckler tells Zelnick: ‘I’m against Jews’

Zelnick posted footage Wednesday showing the audience member shouting, “I’m against Jews,” during his stand-up performance.

After he reacted with disbelief and asked her to clarify, the woman said, “You guys are evil,” citing what was “happening in Palestine.”

“But that’s not all Jews. Like I’m here, right? And I’m pro-Palestine,” Zelnick responded. “There are a lot of Jews being naughty in Israel right now, but it’s not all Jews, and it’s not because they’re Jews.”

He later told the woman: “Why am I on the hook for explaining to you why one religion of people aren’t all evil at the individual level?”

“I care about being Jewish. I think what’s happening in Israel is horrible, but those are two different things,” he said.

Other audience members called for the woman to be removed, but Zelnick continued trying to engage her. She eventually walked out.

Zelnick said on his podcast that the crowd had been supportive and that he deliberately chose not to have the heckler ejected because he wanted to try to understand why she held those views.

Jewish comedians face heckling

The incident was the latest in a series of cases in which Jewish comedians in the United States have faced antisemitic heckling while performing.

Comedian Mike Glazer posted footage last year of a heckler calling him a “Jew pig” and using another antisemitic slur, while an audience member shouted, “You’re a Jew,” at comedian Judy Gold during a New York performance in April.

Anti-Zionist demonstrators have also repeatedly heckled Jerry Seinfeld, who has been outspoken in his support for Israel.

Jewish New York comedian Eitan Levine told The Times of Israel that such harassment was not common but said “the fact that it’s happening at all is new.”

“Some of these people are getting empowered to speak up in places where they wouldn’t have been empowered to speak up before,” Levine said. “As much as it’s not happening often, the fact that it is happening is crazy.”