Comedian David Baddiel and My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding's Paddy Doherty have become the latest stars to weigh in on the controversy surrounding Jimmy Carr's Netflix special.
The Eight Out Of 10 Cats star came under fire this week for a Holocaust joke aired during his latest comedy special which viewers branded "disgusting" and "grotesque". The show, titled 'His Dark Material', was released to Netflix on Christmas Day and has now received widespread attention after a clip was posted and shared online during which he claimed a positive of the Holocaust was the death of thousands of Gypsies.
During the show, Carr made a reference to the number of Gypsies who were killed in the Holocaust and how no one ever talks about it. The punchline then contained a disparaging remark towards Gypsy deaths at the hands of the Nazis.
Anti-hate groups including the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust and Hope Not Hate have criticised Carr for his comments about the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller community and a petition has even called on Netflix to remove such segments from the show.
Baddiel is the latest to have joined the debate having tweeted that Holocaust jokes can be one of two things, Cornwall Live reports. He said that they are either "cruel and inhumane and mean-spirited and racist" or they can target oppressors and draw attention to the "fundamental evil of it" while "shining a light on the humanity of the victims".
The 57-year-old, whose mother was a Jewish refugee, said Carr's controversial joke "was the former". He also shared a historic tweet of his in which he praised a Holocaust joke from Devorah Baum, author of Feeling Jewish: A Book for Just About Anyone, which he said was "defensible" unlike Carr's.
Meanwhile, Mr Doherty, also famed for his appearance on Celebrity Big Brother, joined criticism of Carr over the "disturbing" joke, reports North Wales Live.
He branded the comedian's joke "disgusting" and "a different level".
"How this fella has turned this into a joke is disgusting, it's a different level," he said.
"Travellers are the most hated people on the planet and what have we ever done to anyone, I don't know. I am truly, truly disgusted".
Earlier this week, the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust's chief executive Olivia Marks-Woldman said: "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, sterilisation and mass murder simply because of their identity - these are not experiences for mockery."
The Traveller Movement, a charity supporting the traveller community in the UK which has launched the petition calling for the segment's removal, said: “This is truly disturbing and goes way beyond humour.”
In a tweet, the charity said: “We need all your support in calling this out #StopTravellerHate @StopFundingHate.”
The petition describes Carr’s words as "nothing short of a celebration of genocide" and has received more than 7,000 signatures.
Netflix, which has been urged to remove the special, declined to comment. Carr has also not commented.
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