A comedian who was a contestant on Celebrity MasterChef has been accused of mocking the Oct 7 massacres.

Eshaan Akbar posted a message on social media saying that the deadliest day for Jewish civilians since the Holocaust was something “involving hummus and sausages at a music festival”.

The stand-up comedian and former BBC Asian network presenter wrote that the Hamas massacre led to “self-defence against children and their families resulting in over 45,000 deaths”.

Mr Akbar, who has written stand-up shows about anti-Asian racism, has been accused of belittling the massacres that took place in 2023.

His full post on Instagram read: “A year ago today, something mad happened involving hummus and sausages at a music festival that resulted in the self-defence against children and their families resulting in over 45,000 deaths that we in the UK massively helped with! Aren’t we good guys? Big up US!”

The comedian posted the message on the anniversary of the Hamas massacre ahead of his planned gig at the Top Secret comedy club in London on Oct 9, which served as a preview to his upcoming tour.

Alongside his stand up, Akbar co-hosted a weekend show on the BBC Asian Network, has appeared in the BBC factual series Pilgrimage, and has also appeared in the Netflix hit Sex Education. 

He was also a contestant on the BBC’s Celebrity MasterChef 2024.