Yahoo News After United Agents’ Head of Comedy Apologizes for Israel Reposts, Firm Says It Will Investigate
Kitty Laing, head of comedy at United Agents, is under investigation by the top U.K. talent agency after social media reposts and shares highly critical of Israel as that country fights a war with Hamas.
On Tuesday morning, United Agents said on its X account and in a statement obtained by The Hollywood Reporter: “We have been made aware of social media posts by one of our senior agents this morning. These are not the views of United Agents Ltd. We are conducting a full and thorough investigation into this immediately.”
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Laing represents comedy writers and actors and sketch comedy artists like Michelle Asante, Jamie Demetriou, Jack Brett Anderson, and Dan Harry and Ollie King. United Agents has clients working in film, TV, theater, radio and digital, as well as representing them in concert touring.
Laing’s reposts have been taken down and are no longer available for viewing on X. Laing in a statement obtained by THR apologized for her social media shares: “I would like to unreservedly apologize for my retweets on social media surrounding the horrendous attacks in Israel on October 7th. With hindsight, I realize how naive I have been and that much of the information on social media surrounding the conflict is unsubstantiated and hurtful. I should have taken time to consider this beforehand.”
Earlier, Oscar-nominated screenwriter Lee Kern (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm) in his own X thread called attention to Laing’s shares that were highly critical of Israel as it mounts a campaign in Gaza against Hamas after deadly Oct. 7 terrorist attacks in southern Israel.
“I’m an Oscar nominated writer who got there without an agent (yes that’s a flex) so I don’t give a fuck about deferring to agents. No one will stop me making a living. I’ll drive a cab if needed. So let me tell you about the disgrace of @kittylaing, Head of Comedy at @UnitedAgents,” Kern said in an X thread post.
Kern in his own reposts of Laing’s shares said the United Agency comedy head had depicted Israeli victims of war crimes as “legitimate” military targets.
The investigation into Laing’s reposts follows CAA’s co-chief of the motion pictures department Maha Dakhil stepping away from her leadership post at the talent agency over her own Instagram Stories reposts critical of Israel.
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