Victoria Coren Mitchell has defended Jimmy Carr after a backlash over a shocking joke he made in his latest Netflix special, where he described the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Roma and Sinti people at the hands of the Nazis as ‘positive’.
The 49-year-old comic sparked outrage in his new show His Dark Materials by making an 'abhorrent' remark about Holocaust.
In the now viral clip from his new show, Jimmy said that people ‘never mention the thousands of Gypsies that were killed by the Nazis’ because ‘no one ever wants to talk about the positives.’
The special was launched on Christmas Day in 2021 and Netflix is now facing pressure to remove the segment.
Carr has faced immense criticism and backlash from from stars such as My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding's Paddy Doherty and the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust's chief executive Olivia Marks-Woldman.
But Only Connect star Victoria Coren Mitchell took to Twitter to defend the comedian, describing him as 'decent' man.
While tweeting her thoughts on Saturday night's instalment of The Masked Singer, Victoria decided to take the opportunity to defend her pal Jimmy - but it didn't go down well with the comedian's critics.
Victoria tweeted: "While I’m here, might take a moment to mention I also love @JimmyCarr, a close friend who’s made about a thousand jokes I wouldn’t make myself, as a stage performer, but as a man is full of goodness and kindness. He’s a properly decent person."
Her comments on the controversy left some fans infuriated as one follower clapped back: "Do you think you would be similarly quick to defend him if he’d made a joke defending the murder of Jews in the Holocaust?"
To which Victoria replied: "Yes. It’s not about the joke."
Another Twitter user quizzed the star on 'why she wouldn't make the same joke as Jimmy'.
In response, she shared: "I wouldn't for all the reasons people are offended by it, and about 12 more besides. And yet Jimmy is a kind person, and I said so knowing what misunderstandings and bile would come, because it's true and because I'm not a fairweather friend. But I think I'll go to bed now."
Victoria finished off the Twitter thread by telling fans she will be taking a break and disappearing for a few days following her tweet defending Carr.
"In traditional fashion I’m not going to look at Twitter for a few days, so I’m sorry if I miss things. You can only try and do what you think is right in any situation. Forster said (as well as “Only Connect”)" she wrote.
Victoria then added the quote: "“If I had to choose between betraying my country and betraying my friend, I hope I should have the guts to betray my country.” I wasn’t defending the joke. Have a lovely Sunday, and see you at some point for lighter exchanges."
Carr’s words have been condemned by Traveller and Roma organisations, anti-fascist charities and The Auschwitz Memorial among others, and a petition has now been launched calling on Netflix to remove the ‘vile’ content.
The petition, by organisation The Traveller Movement, described Carr’s words as ‘nothing short of a celebration of genocide’.
It calls on Carr to apologise, and for Netflix to ‘remove this segment from the special’.
Former Celebrity Big Brother star Paddy has publicly slammed the comedian for his insensitive joke.
Paddy dubbed the routine as 'disgusting' and 'a different level' in a furious rant on social media.
"How this fella has turned this into a joke is disgusting, it's a different level," Paddy raged.
"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."
Jimmy broke his silence on the controversy during his live comedy show at the Whitley Bay Playhouse on Saturday night.
The stony-faced star remained silent as he entered - but seemingly addressed the furore when on stage.
During the show, he made quips about being cancelled, telling his audience: "The joke that ends my career is already out there."
"I am going to get cancelled, that's the bad news. The good news is I am going down swinging," Carr said.
"The joke that ends my career it's already out there. It's on YouTube, Netflix, or whatever, and it's fine until one day it f***ing isn't."
