Comic Omid Djalili cancels gig after ‘threats’ related to Israel-Hamas war

Omid Djalili has cancelled a show after receiving “increased personal threats” related to the Israel-Hamas conflict.

The comedian, of Iranian descent, was set to go on stage at the Festival Drayton Centre, in Market Drayton, Shropshire.

However, the show has been abandoned with the venue citing “personal threats due to the situation in Israel”.

Jodie Rudd, centre manager of the Festival Drayton Centre, where he was due to perform, told the Shropshire Star: “Due to security threats made against Omid Djalili, tonight’s performance at the Festival Drayton Centre has had to be cancelled.

“We are working hard to contact all customers.”

A message posted on the Festival Drayton Centre’s Facebook page initially stated that the performance was cancelled in light of “personal threats” due to the Israel-Hamas war.

The theatre later updated this post, which only cited “circumstances beyond our control”, according to local reports.

No further details have been provided by Djalili’s representatives on the nature of the threat.

Festival Drayton Centre said it would work to contact fans who bought tickets to the event and refund them next week.

The comedian, who was born in London to Iranian parents, has appeared in numerous films, including Gladiator and Mamma Mia, and a 2010 comedy called The Infidel, which made fun of strained relations between the Jewish and Muslim communities in London.