Jimmy Carr has been slammed for ‘sickening and unacceptable’ remarks made about the Holocaust in his new Netflix show.
A clip was shared online yesterday from the comedian’s His Dark Material show - which has been described as ‘finding humour in the darkest of places’.
The viral video from the programme shows the 49-year-old making a derogatory ‘joke’ about the deaths of thousands of Gypsies at the hands of Nazis.
He said: “When people talk about the Holocaust, they talk about the tragedy of six million lives being lost to the Nazi war machine - but they never mention the thousands of Gypsies killed by the Nazis, because no one wants to talk about the positives.”
Viewers and organisations that represent Roma and the travelling community have hit back at the comments.
Romano Lav, a Roma community group in Glasgow, has urged Netflix to review their relationship with the comedian following the remarks.
In a statement, they said: “It is with both anger and sadness that we are, once again, compelled to condemn hate crimes against Roma people being legitimised on mainstream television.
“Jimmy Car’s 'joke' in his show ‘His Dark Materials’ is sickening and unacceptable.
“Over 500,000 Roma and Sinti people across Europe were murdered by the Nazis and their associates during the Holocaust - it is not a laughing matter or something that should be celebrated.
“We urge Netflix and Channel 4 to urgently review their standard and their relationship with Jimmy Carr.”
The Traveller Movement, a charity which supports Roma, traveller and Romany Gypsy people against discrimination, criticised Carr for “celebrating genocide”.
They wrote: “To joke about the genocide of people who are still faced with racism and discrimination every day, and often treated as second class citizens with their human rights violated, is only to hive fuel to those who are looking to justify their racist views.”
The group has also launched a petition calling for Netflix to remove the segments from the show - more than 4,000 people have signed the petition so far.
Netflix has been approach for comment.
Our partner title, The Mirror, has also contacted Jimmy Carr’s representatives for a response on the comments.
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