Comedian Jimmy Carr has always displayed a distinct taste for the tasteless in his stand-up routines and on his hit Channel 4 panel show, 8 Out Of 10 Cats.
His deadpan humour is challenging to say the least, and not something that appeals to everyone.
But it was during his recent outing on Netflix, in a comedy special entitled His Dark Material, that Carr — deliberately — pushed the boundaries of his brand too far for many with a joke about the Holocaust and a disparaging remark about the thousands of Gypsies killed by the Nazis.
He even introduced the joke in an arrogant fashion by saying 'it could be a career ender'.
Comedian Jimmy Carr has always displayed a distinct taste for the tasteless in his stand-up routines and on his hit Channel 4 panel show, 8 Out Of 10 Cats
Fellow celebrities have queued up to criticise him, including his friend and fellow comedian David Baddiel and the author Sir Philip Pullman.
The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust said his comments were 'hateful'.
Boris Johnson's spokesman has weighed in, Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries described Carr's comment as 'abhorrent', and Health Secretary Sajid Javid is urging people to send Netflix a 'very strong message' by 'not watching or listening' to Carr.
Others have gone further, demanding that viewers cancel their subscriptions.
Fellow celebrities have queued up to criticise him, including his friend and fellow comedian David Baddiel (pictured) and the author Sir Philip Pullman
The Traveller Movement, a charity supporting the traveller community in the UK, said the joke in question was 'truly disturbing and goes way beyond humour'.
It has also launched a petition demanding that the streaming service edit the segment of the show to remove the offending item. Last night, it had attracted more than 13,000 signatures and counting.
I do not want to defend Carr. He's a clever man, an experienced stand-up and TV professional. He knew exactly what he was doing, and why, in initiating outrage.
On stage in Whitley Bay at the weekend, after he was heckled about the Holocaust issue, he left the audience in no doubt that he had wanted to take on 'cancel culture'.
Carr said: '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 talks about that because no one wants to talk about the positives.' Pictured: Survivors of Auschwitz
According to reports, he told them: 'What I am saying on stage this evening is barely acceptable now. In ten years, forget about it.
'You are going to be able to tell your grandchildren about seeing this show tonight. You will say: 'I saw a man and he stood on a stage and he made light of serious issues. We used to call them jokes and people would laugh.' '
He has a point, but I would argue that what Carr has done is to actively promote cancel culture, to fan the flames feeding it.
Taste aside, the joke that has caused the furore wasn't funny to with start with. It barely deserves repeating, but for the broader points I want to make it is necessary to do so.
Carr said: '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 talks about that because no one wants to talk about the positives.'
Like I said, not funny.
But does it matter if a joke is funny or not, or in such appallingly bad taste that it will offend many reasonable people?
Doesn't a comedian have the freedom to tell whatever jokes he or she wants?
And is it really, as one campaign group claimed, 'a celebration of genocide'? No it isn't. This is an absurd exaggeration.
Many of those who identify broadly as 'conservative' feel deep in their bones
