Sir Billy Connolly has been cleared by TV watchdog Ofcom over a joke about a cat being run over by a car.
The regulator looked over a segment from the comedy legend’s documentary Billy Connolly: An Absolute Pleasure, screened on ITV, after two viewers complained the story about the death of a feline was cruel towards animals.
The tale involves a man who accidentally hits a cat while driving through the Highlands.
Connolly said the cat yarn was told to him by actor Liam Neeson and was said to have happened to a crew member on the 1995 film Rob Roy.
He said: “It’s very encouraging that you can take reality and dress it up and make people fall about laughing.
“Shock is an intrinsic part of comedy. The shock of the punchline from nowhere just gets people, they love it.”
Last year, Connolly said he wouldn’t make it as a comedian if he was starting out today because of woke culture.
He said he thought he would be “cancelled” because his “fearless” material would be deemed too offensive for modern audiences.
The 79-year-old, who is suffering from Parkinson’s disease, announced his retirement from stand-up in 2018.
An Ofcom spokesperson said: "We had two animal welfare complaints on this, related to a joke about a cat being run over.
"After careful assessment, Ofcom has decided not to pursue the complaints because they did not raise issues warranting investigation."
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