Jimmy Carr faced a fresh row on Tuesday over a joke in his self-help book about the murder of six million Jews by the Nazis.
Carr, 49, sparked a backlash with a routine in his Netflix special, His Dark Material, that described the “thousands of gypsies killed by the Nazis” as one of the Holocaust’s “positives”.
It has now emerged he attempted to defend jokes about the Holocaust in his book Before and Laughter: The Funniest Man in the UK’s Genuinely Useful Guide to Life.
However, he then went on to make a quip about the deaths of six million Jews during the Second World War.
He was roundly condemned for “making a mockery” of Jewish victims of genocide. In the book, published last September, he wrote: “To laugh can be an act of defiance. People will laugh in the most stressful and hopeless situations. During the Holocaust, prisoners held in concentration camps found ways to secretly tell jokes and share stories.
“And they laughed. Laughing gave them some control and reminded them of their humanity. It helped them cope. The movie Life is Beautiful is exceptional. How could they make a Holocaust movie that was funny? Well, because that shit happened. And I think it’s okay to joke about the Holocaust.”
He added: “They say there’s safety in numbers. Tell that to six million Jews.”
The comments were made under a heading titled “Jokes on Hitler”.
Olivia Marks-Woldman, chief executive of the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, said: “Jimmy Carr is right that people in the Holocaust concentration camps tried to assert their humanity in a variety of ways, in the face of propaganda and policies that deliberately sought to dehumanise them. But Carr’s ‘jokes’ certainly do not humanise, nor are they funny or joyful, as he has claimed. They dehumanise people and perpetuate prejudice.”
She added: “We urge Jimmy Carr to show empathy for Holocaust victims who were murdered for no reason other than they were Jewish, and for members of the Roma and Sinti communities... Jimmy Carr alleges he is concerned about education and humanity, we urge him to show empathy and extend his own learning.”
Isabel Sawkins, a research fellow at counter-extremist group Henry Jackson Society, said: “[Carr] needs to find another way to find humour in his life, one that does not involve disrespecting the victims of genocide.”
The comedian had already been condemned by politicians for the remarks made during his show, with the Prime Minister’s spokesman branding them as “deeply disturbing”.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid urged viewers to stop watching the Netflix show to send a “strong message” to the streaming service.
Dame Melanie Dawes, head of media watchdog Ofcom, has said she would “welcome” the chance to regulate Netflix and other streaming services.
She said: “It’s really confusing that they’ve got different standards applied, for example, to Channel 4 News than they have to YouTube and other services, including Netflix, that come streamed on to our TVs.”
Carr’s representatives have been contacted for comment.
