Katie Price, a Jewish comedian and avid supporter of London soccer club Arsenal, was verbally harassed and called antisemitic slurs by other Gunners' fans at a bar at the center of the British capital, newspaper Algemeiner reported on Wednesday
According to the report, Price, 26, hoped to enjoy watching her team clinch a prestigious 2:0 away win on Sunday in the North London Derby against city rivals Tottenham Hotspur with fellow comedian Jamie D'souza, but other spectators had other plans in mind.
"Having to run a gauntlet of men shouting ‘go home, Yiddo’ is something I’ll never forget," Price told Algemeiner. "I burst into tears immediately outside."
Initially unaware that she's Jewish, Arsenal fans at the bar chanted "we hate Tottenham" and added the racial slur "Yiddo, Yiddo, Yiddo," referencing Tottenham's large Jewish fanbase. As the chants persisted, Price, wearing an Arsenal shirt like everyone else on location, approached the fans and asked them to drop the antisemitic slur.
"Upon finding out I’m Jewish, a group of much older men started calling me a ‘dirty f***ing yid’ and a ‘Tottenham supporting yiddo,'" she recounted the ordeal in an Instagram post. "They squared up to me, tried to pull my Arsenal shirt off, made repeated threats to beat us both up and repeatedly chanted ‘dirty yids’ at me."
The rowdy Arsenal supporters went on to tell D'Souza to "take his girl out". Price also recounted how the bar manager asked both her and D'souza to leave the place. As they were walking outside, the entire pub chanted "off you go, yiddo."
Price says she also believes the bar manager wasn't necessarily racist himself, but was simply too afraid to stand up to the wayward crowd, who were quite intoxicated.
After having contacted the Community Security Trust, a non-profit that counsels British Jews facing antisemitism, the ugly incident was relayed to the Metropolitan Police Service.
"I KNOW there will have been hundreds of Arsenal pubs with chants of ‘yiddo’ which weren’t called out," she wrote on Instagram. “Please, please, call it out when you hear it. It’s a hate crime."
Price further told Algemiener, "I think a cultural change is really needed. I think I’d like to see a statement from the club and a zero tolerance policy. One strike and you’re out."
The bar manager denied that Price and her friend were asked to leave, saying his main concern during the confrontation was to prevent violence from ensuing. The also said that he did not hear the soccer fans making any threats.