Comedian Dane Baptiste has apologised to the "Jewish community, my colleagues and my fans" following criticism over a now-deleted social media post.

The stand-up star, who has appeared on TV shows including 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown, Live At The Apollo, and Mock The Week, has been dropped by his talent agency Insanity. The company said the contents of a deleted post were "completely at odds with our values and what we stand for".

The Metropolitan Police said it is investigating. In a statement, the force said: "Enquiries are being made in relation to a post reported to police by a number of social media users on Wednesday 1 May.

"We have since made contact with a number of people who are helping our enquiries. "We would continue to urge anyone who has information which could help our enquiries to contact police." Baptiste said he had made "a massive error of judgment" after receiving "a number of threatening and abusive messages from accounts accusing me of antisemitism for having pro-Palestinian views".

The comedian said his partner had made him aware that "some of these same people" were monitoring her Instagram account. In an apology posted on social media, Baptiste said: "In a massive error of judgement, I posted an excessive and impulsive response, hoping to dissuade anybody monitoring my family.

"I made a point to say Zionist and not Jewish, but I appreciate how disturbing, threatening and incendiary that language is, I would categorically state I have no ill intention towards the Jewish community and never have. "I have a loving family of which I am massively protective of; I reacted poorly and emotionally to a perceived threat with no considered thought to the consequences, and I apologise profusely for my actions to the Jewish community, my colleagues and my fans." In addition to his apology on social media, Baptiste said in a statement sent to Sky News: "I realise the severity of my initial statement on social media; and am apologetic of any offence caused.

"Throughout my career I have worked and co-existed in comedy without ever displaying offence to any marginalised group, and do not wish to continue antagonising anybody further at this time." Baptiste was the first black comedian to be nominated for the award for best newcomer at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards in 2014, and also fronted the BBC Three sketch programme Bamous. In a statement, a spokesperson for Insanity said: "Insanity became aware of a social media post published by Dane on Instagram yesterday.

"The contents of his post are completely at odds with our values and what we stand for. We promptly made this clear to him, and are no longer working with him.

"As an organisation we do not tolerate hate speech of any kind and are committed to the values of respect and tolerance for all.".