Close friend David Baddiel slams Jimmy Carr: ‘Indefensible’

Here in Australia, the Anti-Defamation Commission has written to Netflix Australia, urging the company to pull the stand-up special in which the joke features.

UK comedian Carr has been hit with a fierce public backlash over a shocking joke about the Holocaust he makes in his latest Netflix stand-up special.

In it, Carr jokes 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”.

Amid a growing backlash, fellow comic David Baddiel labelled Carr’s joke “cruel and inhumane”.

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In a Twitter thread, Baddiel argued there are two types of Holocaust jokes: those that are “cruel and inhumane and mean-spirited and racist,” and jokes that “target the oppressors, or draw attention to the fundamental evil of it, or shine a light on the humanity of victims.”

Carr’s joke, he said, was “clearly the former”.

“I’d add that Jimmy is a close friend of mine and a brilliant stand-up in general. Makes no difference to how I feel or think about this specific joke,” he continued.

Perhaps anticipating the backlash, Carr followed up the joke in his Netflix special with an extended justification as to why he thought it was justified, telling the audience that it was “f**king funny”, “edgy as all hell” and argued it had an “educational quality” because it taught people about the murder of Gypsies during the Holocaust.

Many disagreed, with the Anti-Defamation Commission writing to Netflix Australia to urge the company to pull the special from their platform.

Dr Dvir Abramovich, Chairman of the Anti-Defamation Commission, called the joke “beyond disgusting and abhorrent“ and said it “will only add to the ongoing racism and prejudice against the Roma community”.

“It’s hard to believe this vulgar material, which defiles the memory of the dead, actually made it to the airwaves and that it did not raise any red flags amongst the producers or executives. Netflix should have known better, but given their track record with Historical Roasts, perhaps Holocaust abuse and trivialisation is par for the course.

“By continuing to stream this outrage, Netflix is not only profiting from the cheapening and debasing of the Holocaust of the lowest kind, but they are contributing to the ongoing prejudice against Gypsy communities in Europe who are still suffering persecution.

“It makes no difference that this is a comedian to whom we usually give a lot of leeway. What is also alarming is that the audience laughed. We call on Netflix Australia to immediately pull that episode, offer a full-throated apology and confirm that they will not air any specials by this individual.”

News.com.au has contacted Netflix Australia for comment.

Anti-racism group Hope Not Hate was among those to condemn the comedian after the clip went viral in recent days.

“Comedy is an amazing tool for progressive change and it’s such a shame that Jimmy Carr decided to use his platform to celebrate the murder of one of the most marginalised groups in society,” they wrote.

The Auschwitz Memorial account tweeted that Carr should “learn about the fate of some 23,000 Roma and Sinti deported to Auschwitz”.

The comedian addressed the furore in his most recent stand-up set, telling the audience at the Whitley Bay Playhouse in seaside northwest England over the weekend that “the joke that ends my career is already out there.”

Originally published as Close friend David Baddiel slams Jimmy Carr: ‘Indefensible’