Egyptian comedian Bassem Youssef said on Tuesday that his account on X had not been deleted by the social media giant and vowed to continue posting content on other platforms.
The account of the well-known comedian with over 11 million followers on X disappeared from the platform on Monday evening without a clear explanation.
“No, my X account was not deleted by X and I do not want to falsely portray myself as a victim,” Youssef said on Instagram.
What happened
Youssef’s X-account @byoussef was down around 5 p.m. ET on Monday. On Tuesday evening, the account’s website posted a message saying, “This account does not exist.”
The disappearance sparked speculation on the social media site that Youssef had been banned. In his Instagram post, Youssef alluded to “security issues” related to his family as to why his X account had disappeared, without elaborating.
“Once the safety concerns regarding my loved ones are resolved, I may consider returning,” he said.
Youssef added that he will continue to post on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok, where he has a combined following of more than 15 million users.
“I want to approach the matter away from the media,” he said.
Who is Youssef?
Youssef, 50, is an Egyptian-American comedian. He was originally a heart surgeon but rose to prominence following the 2011 Arab Spring protests in Egypt with his satirical show “Al Bernameg” (Arabic for “The Program”). In the show, he lampooned a number of Egyptian politicians, including former President Mohammed Morsi, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood.
American comedian Jon Stewart featured Youssef on his show in 2012, helping to introduce him to a US audience.
The Morsi government issued an arrest warrant against Youssef in March 2013.
In July of that year, Morsi was overthrown in what was widely described as a coup. Youssef defended the move, writing in Al-Arabiya the following month: “I am very happy with the outcome of the June 30 protests and the overthrow of President Mohammad Morsi.”
Censorship of Youssef in Egypt However, his program continued even after Morsi’s fall and was canceled by the private broadcaster CBC in November 2013, as the state news channel Al-Ahram reported at the time.
Youssef left Egypt in November 2014 after a court ruled that he had to pay a $10 million fine for his content. He moved from his home country to the United States with his wife and daughter, according to a 2017 CNN report.
Open opinion on Gaza
After the Gaza war, Youssef returned to the spotlight. In an interview with TalkTV’s Piers Morgan in October, he sharply criticized Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians. Youssef rejected the accusation that civilians are dying in Gaza because Hamas is allegedly using them as human shields.
“If we agree that the 14,000 victims – I mean, who’s counting them – are human shields, does that mean that every single one of those civilians was standing there hiding a military target behind them? Because that’s a lot of weapons. Hamas is fully armed.”
Youssef told millions of viewers that his wife Hala Diab has family in Gaza caught up in the conflict.
The YouTube video of the TalkTV interview had over 22 million views as of Tuesday. Youssef received widespread praise for the exchange, with recognition for his outspoken pro-Palestinian stance while speaking to a Western audience. Journalist Kareem Shaheen described it as “brilliant” in an October article for *New Lines Magazine*, highlighting Youssef’s pointed question to Morgan during the interview: “What is the going price of human life today?”
“The example is a powerful illustration of his broader point about the value or non-value of Palestinian lives,” Shaheen wrote in response to Youssef’s comment on the value of Palestinian lives.
Youssef argued that the higher number of Palestinians dying from Israeli bombings shows that their lives are considered worthless.
According to the Health Ministry, more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in the current Gaza war. In Israel, more than 1,110 people were killed in the October 7 attack, according to authorities.
Youssef has been critical of Hamas since the war began, telling Middle East Eye in February: “I am absolutely not a fan of Hamas.” He also expressed doubts about allegations regarding the group’s behavior on October 7. In an interview with podcaster Lex Fridman in April, Youssef dismissed reports of “rapes” and “beheaded babies.”
“Then I started watching the news a bit, and then I saw people coming on the shows and saying things that I know as an Arab, as a Muslim, as someone from this region, are not true.”
The New York Times, the Guardian and other news outlets reported evidence of sexual violence by the perpetrators of the October 7 attack. The claim that babies were beheaded during the attack was never confirmed.
Youssef and spokespeople for X did not immediately respond to Al-Monitor’s request for comment.
Accusations of anti-Semitism
Youssef’s comments about Jews since the start of the Gaza war have led to accusations of anti-Semitism. In an interview with Youssef in late July, YouTube host Theo Von claimed that Jewish friends of his said “the media is largely run by Jews.”
“That’s it. All corporations, all CEOs,” Youssef replied.
Israeli commentator Hen Mazzig called Youssef’s remarks “anti-Jewish” in a post on X earlier this month.
In the same interview, Youssef criticized the Anti-Semitism Awareness Act of 2023, which passed the House of Representatives in May. The law states that “any criticism of Israel will be considered anti-Semitic.”
The bill calls on the U.S. Department of Education to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism when investigating possible civil rights violations. The IHRA does not consider all criticism of Israel to be anti-Semitic, but its text cites examples of Israel-related anti-Semitism.
In a January interview with controversial YouTuber Patrick Bet-David, Youssef falsely claimed that DNA testing was illegal in Israel and accused the Israeli government of “kidnapping” Yemeni children in 1950 “to inject Semitic DNA into their population.”
Following anti-Semitic attacks in Yemen, the Israeli government brought thousands of Yemeni Jews into the country in the late 1940s and early 1950s.
In a Monday post on X, shortly before his account disappeared, Youssef described accusations of anti-Semitism as “fear-mongering.”
“Are you still afraid of being called an anti-Semite by these Zionists? Vote and tell me in the comments,” he said.
