Frankie Boyle has doubled down after making a joke about raping and killing Holly Willoughby.
The comic, 49, referenced a game about 'killing and sh*****g people', which included TV star Holly, when he performed at Latitude Festival last weekend.
Boyle told the crowd: "I’d obviously kill her and rape her afterwards. I’m joking, I’d rape her first."
The controversial comedian defended the comment yesterday when he was asked about it at a book launch, Mail Online reports.
Boyle said: "Can I just say, my routine about raping and f*****g Holly Willoughby was part of a very long routine about whether or not it’s okay to do a joke about that, and I look at it from both sides, there are pluses and minuses."
He also described how comedy is in "the eye of the beholder" and he believes he's a "mainstream comic".
The Mirror has contacted Frankie's representatives for comment.
Holly, 41, has in the past spoken up for sexual abuse victims, and has also revealed her own experience of up-skirting when photographers crouched on the floor to take photos of her.
MP Caroline Noakes, Tory chair of Commons' Women and Equalities Committee said rape is never funny.
She told Mail On Sunday that she was "disappointed" anyone would make a joke out of male sexual violence.
A spokesperson for feminism campaign group FiliA said: "There is nothing funny about male violence and seeking cheap applause at the expense of traumatising women speaks of low-quality material."
Frankie sparked outrage in the past with jokes on Rebecca Adlington’s appearance and Katie Price’s disabled son Harvey.
In 2017, Katie urged fans to boycott Frankie's Live at The Apollo broadcast, following the comments he made in 2010 about Harvey, on his show Tramadol Nights.
His quip on Mock The Week about Olympic swimmer Rebecca earned a reprimand from the BBC Trust, which branded it “humiliating”.
In 2020, the BBC defended Frankie after viewers complained about an episode where the comedian took aim at Home Secretary Priti Patel and Sir Keir Starmer.
Speaking on his BBC Two show New World Order Frankie said the Conservative cabinet secretary is the "'one woman in Britain who can orgasm imagining a slow puncture at sea" before describing Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer as "looking like someone playing a Prime Minister in an old Spice Girls video".
Later in the episode, which featured guests Sara Pascoe, Jen Brister, Sophie Duker and Jamali Maddix, Boyle quipped: "We have an entire political class that demonstrate in Britain, you really can be whatever you want to be. Provided that you want to be some kind of c**t."
The BBC defended Frankie after viewers complained, saying the episode's content "is within audience expectations for a post-watershed, topical, satirical programme from a comedian whose style and tone are well-established."
If you've been the victim of sexual assault, you can access help and resources via www.rapecrisis.org.uk or calling the national telephone helpline on 0808 802 9999
