Edinburgh Fringe performer claims youths branded him a 'lady boy' during attack
An Edinburgh Fringe performer has claimed he was called a 'lady boy' by youths who allegedly attacked him on the Royal Mile.
Eddie Jen, who uses he/she pronouns, is performing his show 'Seeking a PenPal For the End of the World' to the festival this year.
Before it starts he was out handing out flyers but says he was accosted by a gang of thugs on Tuesday, July 29, reports Edinburgh Live.
Eddie claims the male youths "beat him on the head", ripped off his bow and poured their drinks on him.
Speaking out since the incident, Eddie said "it all happened so quickly".
He added: "I was just so excited and happy to be in Edinburgh and to start with, I got great reactions. The youngsters aren't even a minority and they aren't speaking for everyone.
"It all happened so quickly, they just came up to me and started saying 'are you a lady boy?' and 'are you a boy or a girl?'
"I remained polite but as I went back to my corner to continue flyering, they hit my head, ripped off my bow and poured their drinks over me. It all happened within two minutes.
"I was honestly in shock but I am so glad I was able to film it all and get people talking about this."
The performer from San Francisco said she isn't letting the incident dampen her time in Edinburgh. Eddie has met a lot of kind people in the capital - including one man who assisted after the incident.
She added: "There was one kind Scottish gentleman who came up to me to see if I was okay.
"I really am an optimist and I am able to get the full Fringe experience right now. I mean so far, I have been harassed and done shows with no attendance so it seems I am getting everything bad out the way in the first week.
"Last year I came to the Fringe to see if I was up to par and I absolutely loved it - the city is magical, there really is something about it.
"I went out flyering again yesterday, I put on the same outfit and I kept going. I am just so excited to be here."
Getting over 200,000 views, the clip has since gone viral and many people have offered their support to the performer. The video was captioned: "I was attacked in drag at Edinburgh Fringe 2025. It's my first solo show.
"I was so excited to flyer and find an audience and then a group of young men began harassing me. They beat me on the head, ripped off my bow and poured their drinks on me."
Almost 1000 comments have come in after the short clip was posted online. One person said: "Why is it always teenagers? Where are their parents?
"I'm terrified of teenage boys in Edinburgh, they're just looking for trouble."
A second said: "That's so bad a member of the public has to explain this is not how Scotland is and excusing their bad behaviour."
"I'm so sorry this happened to you. I live in Edinburgh and unfortunately this type of stuff happens a lot. It's horrible but not all teenagers are like that", a third commented.
Eddie's show started yesterday and will run at Just The Tonic at the Caves at 1.05pm until August 24.
A description of the show reads: "After Trump 1.0's mob breached the US capitol to destroy democracy on January 6th, 2021, an immigrant drag queen attorney from San Francisco began writing to a retired, White, Republican woman in Bountiful, Utah – his high school English teacher from thirty years ago.
"What happens when the political discussions stop and the personal begins? Can you really be friends with your former teacher? An interactive performance, with reading and writing prompts. We tell the story of our lives. For everyone who remembers their English teachers most fondly.
You can find out more about Eddie's show here.
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