His Dark Material: Here is a round-up of what people have said about the controversial 'jokes' made by Jimmy Carr on his Netflix special

The comedian who is also a host of 8 Out Of 10 Cats, originally released his Netflix special in late-2021. However, it wasn’t until early this year that the comments he made caused a stir on social-media after going viral. One of the joke’s in particular referred to the Holocaust, where he said that people ‘‘never mention the thousands of Gypsies that were killed by the Nazis’ in the Holocaust, because ‘no one ever wants to talk about the positives’. After going viral, his comments have since been slammed by numerous celebrities, the Traveller community and other Sheffield residents, who have called for more controversial acts to be banned from Sheffield City Hall, following the cancellation of Roy ‘Chubby’ Brown’s show in the city last year.

The Sheffield based human rights champion Chrissy Meleady MBE, has previously been reported as saying: “As someone who works with and for the protection of these communities concerned, I can tell you categorically that hatred towards Jewish people and Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people, sadly remains alive and kicking today.” Before continuing on, stating that “The inflaming of racial hatred towards them in our 21st Century is not a joke, it is harmful, irresponsible and offensive and can even lead to the murdering of members of these communities.”

David Baddiel a fellow stand-up comedian, who is Jewish and a friend of Carr, commented on the outrage on Twitter saying that the joke was both “cruel" and “inhumane”.

Twitter user @MissPrints_89 wrote: “Hi @SheffCityHall @SheffCityTrust, why are you platforming someone making vile racist jokes about genocide? This has no place anywhere but especially not in a city which prides itself on being compassionate and inclusive.”

Not everybody is enamoured at the prospect of comedians being banned for telling jokes that happen to be shocking, on Good Morning Britain today the ‘anti-woke’ Jewish comic, Konstantin Kisin, who said his grandfather was killed in the Holocaust, came to the defence of the 8 Out Of 10 Cats funnyman and said that he had ‘no problem’ with the ‘joke’.

And the Liberal Democrat Leader Shaffaq Mohammed has previously questioned whether comedians’ shows should be cancelled, saying: “We live in a liberal society with individual freedoms and part of that is to go and watch a comedy act behind closed doors.”

“My question is where do we go from here? Who would we ban next, because some people are offended by the Prime Minister or the former leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn so does that mean they will no longer also be allowed to come and address people at the City Hall?”

Some of The Star readers’ shared their views on the matter, and it goes without saying that a number of people felt very passionately about the prospect of Jimmy Carr – or any other comedian – being cancelled for making jokes:

Glenda Maher commented, “Look stop trying to tell people who they should watch, who to like, if your offended, don't go, simple. I personally don't like the man or think he's funny, but, that's why our taste's are different, doesn't mean they shouldn't do the show.”

Becky Louise’s comments were agreed with by a number of readers who approved of her view that said, “What a joke. Last time I checked this is Great Britain we’re supposed to have the human right to freedom of speech. Pathetic. If you don’t like them don’t go see them. Simple.”

Lee Moran referred to the cancellation of Roy ‘Chubby’ Brown’s show, saying that he “Can’t stand Chubby Brown, but should he have been stopped performing in the city? No… Was Jimmys recent joke offensive? Is most of his stuff? Yes, massively. Should he be stopped performing in the City? No.” But with the added caveat that “Because the City Hall Trust has set this president, he should be stopped. According to their own rules.”

Meanwhile, Mel Machin commented that “Freedom of speech is what should be upheld first and foremost. Freedom of choice is equally important. Adults should be able to go and watch what ever they wish and do not require guidance from politicians or indeed their appointed committees.”

James Senior pulled no punches with his response to the furore, “They both should perform there. If you don’t like them, don’t go to see them! Snowflakes”

And a few people just don’t care for the offensive, shock, comedy angle, at all.

Ben Ladlow responded, saying “Neither are even vaguely funny and it’s no surprise the gross Holocaust joke got Carr in trouble, but Jimmy Carr’s act is trying to *ironically* tell dark jokes - even if he doesn’t have the nuance to pull it off. Chubby Brown on the other hand is just a hacky dinosaur telling racist jokes. The Star knows this of course, but are running this story purely to bait up the gowls that make up Chubby Brown’s fanbase.”

Ashley Whitehead Mc added, “Look how stupid this all is. Boris does worse and isn’t a ‘victim’ of ‘cancel culture’”

Between 200,000 and 500,000 Roma and Sinto people were murdered by the Nazi regime, according to the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust. It has been said elsewgere that a quarter of Europe’s Roma population were cruelly killed by the Nazis.

The Culture secretary Nadine Dorries suggested that the Government could legislate to stop comedy people find offensive being broadcasted on streaming platforms.

"We're already looking at future legislation to bring into scope those sort of comments," she told the BBC.

Her comments were also mirrored by Ofcom, as it was revealed that the regulatory boss is bidding to regulate Netflix in the wake of the Jimmy Carr row.

What is very clear is that this particular section of Jimmy Carr’s Netflix special has divided opinions, some people are calling for the cancellation of the comic’s act, while other people feel that an apology to the Traveller community is the least that he could do. However, a number of people are growing even more concerned about the worrying censorship that is threatening to creep into comedy citing the recent cancellation of Roy ‘Chubby’ Brown in the city as an affront to free speech.

As of this moment in time, Jimmy Carr is due to perform in the city as part of his Terribly Funny Tour at Sheffield City Hall on Saturday 26 March, 2022, with a further date on Friday 16 December, 2022.