Jack Dee defends Jimmy Carr's Holocaust joke and says state 'should never intervene' in comedy

Jack Dee has defended Jimmy Carr after the fellow comedian caused controversy by featuring a joke about the Holocaust in his latest special.

Carr, known for his stand-up routines and hosting roles on shows like 8 Out Of 10 Cats, sparked a social media backlash after a clip from Netflix special His Dark Material was widely shared.

In the clip, the 49-year-old joked about the horror of the Holocaust and “six million Jewish lives being lost” before making a remark about the deaths of thousands of gypsies at the hands of the Nazis as part of the punchline.

Following the remarks, anti-hate groups condemned the comic, and Health Secretary Sajid Javid described the joke as “horrid”.

Now, 60-year-old comedian Jack Dee has come to his defence.

Discussing the outrage around Carr, he said: “He These things come round and they go.

“Jimmy set it up as an unacceptable thing to say.

“A month later someone got hold of it and tried to make a storm out of very little.

“Do we want the state to intervene on what can be said or not said?

“I think we don't want that I think we're sophisticated enough as an audience to discern what we want without calling the cops.

“A live show is the right arena to do that stuff because the audience can immediately tell you if they like it or not."

“I’m not out there to shock anyone but I'm also not going to cotton wool what I say,” he added to Good Morning Britain.

Jimmy Carr’s management team told councillors that none of the controversial material from his Netflix special would be used when he performed in Cambridge last week.

Anna Smith, leader of Cambridge City Council, said she shared the “outrage” regarding the comedian’s comments from his one-hour special His Dark Material and added “genocide is not a subject for mockery”.