Jack Dee has weighed in on the recent discourse surrounding free speech and defended fellow comedian Jimmy Carr after a joke that he made about the Holocaust sparked outrage.
On Monday Jack appeared on Good Morning Britain to discuss his new book What's Your Problem, but the conversation soon turned to fellow comedian Carr and the media storm he's recently been involved in.
Jimmy had come under fire for a gag he performed in his Netflix show His Dark Material.
For the punchline of the joke, Jimmy told his audience "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 the clip that has been shared online, the audience can be heard laughing up a storm, with Jimmy then explaining that the joke was "f***ing funny" and a "good joke" that was "edgy as hell".
He also claimed that the joke had an "educational quality" to it.
But the joke sparked a huge backlash with the subject of freedom of speech in comedy being hotly debated over the last few weeks.
When asked to give his take on Monday's GMB, Jack said that he didn't want to intervene on "what can and can't be said," but added: "These things come round and they go.
"Jimmy set it up as an unacceptable thing to say. A month later someone got hold of it and tried to make a storm out of very little."
He continued: "Do we want the state to intervene on what can be said or not said? I think we don't want that I think we're sophisticated enough as an audience to discern what we want without calling the cops."
Jack then touched on his own experience of almost getting 'cancelled' when he revealed to the hosts and viewers at home that there was a joke that he was given a warning about.
He explained: "The Radio 4 audiences love that stuff, they're not very offendable. I am probably one of the more risqué programmes that's allowed to be out there.
"I say what I want to say and that's good. A live show is the right arena to do that stuff because the audience can immediately tell you if they like it or not. I'm not out there to shock anyone but I'm also not going to cotton wool what I say.
"There was a joke I was told I mustn't say and I ended up telling the joke anyway and was told I'd never work in television again but promises, promises, never happened."
Jimmy Carr's joke continues to spark outrage and now the comedian's management team has had to promise councils that he won't tell the joke in an upcoming gig.
The comedian performed in Cambridge last week and was forced to promise that he wouldn't repeat the Holocaust jokes on stage.
A representative for the city council explained that the gigs at the Cambridge Corn Exchange on February 16 and March 30 were booked in before Jimmy's controversial comments were met with backlash.
Anna Smith, leader of Cambridge City Council, said: "Genocide is not a subject for mockery.
"As a council, we are committed to working with and supporting marginalised communities, including our gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities."
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