Jimmy Carr has claimed he will be canceled over his joke that the ‘thousands of gypsies killed by the Nazis’ was a ‘positive’ effect of the Holocaust.
Carr, known for his stand-up and roles on shows like 8 Out Of 10 Cats, issued a ‘trigger warning’ to the audience at the beginning of his one-hour Netflix special His Dark Material, admitting his performance contained ‘terrible things’.
In a widely-shared clip from the show, Carr joked about the horror of the Holocaust and ‘six million Jewish lives being lost’.
As a punchline, the 49-year-old then made a disparaging remark about the deaths of thousands of gypsies at the hands of the Nazis.
‘But they never mention the thousands of gypsies that were killed by the Nazis. No one ever wants to talk about that, because no one ever wants to talk about the positives,’ Carr quipped to a laughing audience.
During a gig in Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear, he told his audience ‘The joke that ends my career is already out there’.
Pictured: Comedian Jimmy Carr has been criticized for a ‘truly disturbing’ joke made about the traveling community and the Holocaust in his latest show the Netflix special His Dark Material
A woman in the audience heckled Carr by saying, ‘Are we going to talk about the Holocaust?’ the Mirror reported.
Carr replied: ‘We are going to talk about cancel culture, the whole thing.
‘We are going to talk about f***ing everything people. Relax.’
He later said: ‘We are speaking my friends in the last chance saloon. What I am saying on stage this evening is barely acceptable now.
‘In ten years f***ing forget about it. You are going to be able to tell your grandchildren about seeing this show tonight.’
Celebrities and campaigning groups have hit out at Carr’s joke on his Netflix show.
Comedian David Baddiel, 57, slammed the joke as ‘racist’ and ‘inhumane’. He said: ‘You can obviously tell a Holocaust joke that is cruel and inhumane and mean-spirited and racist.
Jewish comedian David Baddiel slammed Carr for joking about the Holocaust on stage
‘Or you can tell one that targets the oppressors, or draws attention to the fundamental evil of it, or shines and light on the humanity of the victims.
‘It’s not the subject matter of the joke that counts, it’s the specifics of the individual joke. Clearly, Jimmy Carr’s was the former.’
Elsewhere, Irish traveler and bare-knuckle boxer Paddy Doherty said the ‘disgusting’ joke was an insult to the 1.5million gypsies exterminated in death camps.
My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding star Paddy Doherty has called for police to probe Carr’s joke about gypsies killed in the Holocaust
He told the Sunday Mirror: ‘He should be investigated by the police.
‘That wasn’t a joke. He’s talking about mass murder being a positive – would he be allowed to say this about black people killed by the Ku Klux Klan?
‘There’s a level you don’t go to. More than a million of my people were killed.’
The joke was condemned Labor MPs including Labor’s Nadia Whittome and David Lammy who described it as ‘despicable’.
Conservative MP and Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries told BBC News that the joke was ‘abhorrent’.
During the show, Carr said: ‘When people talk about the Holocaust…’ at which the audience gasped and he looked down at them, nodding.
The 49-year-old continued: ‘When people talk about the Holocaust, they talk about the tragedy and horror of six million Jewish lives being lost to the Nazi war machine.
‘But they never mention the thousands of gypsies that were killed by the Nazis. No one ever wants to talk about that, because no one ever wants to talk about the positives.’
In spite of the outrage the joke prompted elsewhere, the audience reacted with hoots of laughter.
Carr then explained why he thought it was a ‘good joke’, saying that it was ‘f**king funny’, ‘edgy as all hell’ and because it had an ‘educational quality’.
It is estimated that between 200,000 and 500,000 Roma and Sinti people were murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust.
The joke sparked outrage from various traveler charities and anti-hate groups after a clip was shared on social media.
In a tweet referencing the joke, The Traveler Movement – a charity supporting the traveler community in the UK, said: ‘This is truly disturbing and goes way beyond humour. We need all your support in calling this out #StopTravellerHate @StopFundingHate.’
The charity have now launched a petition to Netflix calling for the ‘removal of the segments of His Dark Materials which celebrates the Romani genocide’.
Olivia Marks-Woldman OBE, Chief Executive of Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, added: ‘We are absolutely appalled at Jimmy Carr’s comment about persecution suffered by Roma and Sinti people under Nazi oppression, and horrified that gales of laughter followed his remarks.
‘Hundreds of thousands of Roma and Sinti people suffered prejudice, slave labour, sterilization and mass murder simply because of their identity – these are not experiences for mockery.
‘The widespread ignorance of this recent history needs to be addressed and we urge everyone to learn more about the past and the experiences of Roma people today.
‘Roma and Sinti people still face dreadful prejudice as this incident shows. Please show your support by learning more, challenging hateful comments like these, and following accounts such as Roma Support Group, The Traveler Movement, and Friends, Families and Travelers.’