Over 16,000 people have signed a petition for British comedian Jimmy Carr's Netflix special to be removed after he joked that the killing of Gypsy people during the Holocaust was a "positive."
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In "Jimmy Carr: His Dark Materials," which was released on Christmas Day, the comedian discussed Roma and Gypsy communities that were murdered during the Holocaust in a clip circulated on social media.
In the clip, he said, "When people talk about the Holocaust, they talk about the tragedy and horror of six million Jewish lives being lost to the Nazi war machine.
"But, they never mention the thousands of Gypsies that were killed by the Nazis. No one ever talks about that because no one wants to talk... about the positives."
Carr issued a "trigger warning" to the audience at the beginning of his Netflix special and told viewers it contained "terrible things."
The petition stated: "In Netflix comedy special 'His Dark Material,' Jimmy Carr 'jokes' that the Romani and Sinti genocide is ignored when people discuss the Holocaust because people don't want to 'focus on the positives.' This is nothing short of a celebration of genocide.
"We appreciate that comedy is subjective but in our view when punchlines are indistinguishable from the genuinely-held views of fascists and Neo-Nazis, a line has very clearly been crossed.
"We acknowledge that Jimmy Carr highlighted the widespread ignorance that exists with regard to non-Jewish victims of the Holocaust, but it was nevertheless incredibly crass for him to claim his 'joke' therefore had an 'educational quality.'
"If this was the case he would have used his considerable platform to raise awareness of Roma Holocaust Memorial Day to his 6.7 million followers. To our knowledge, that has never happened. That speaks volumes.
"There is no legitimate basis for this 'joke,' and no positive to its inclusion which outweighs the profoundly negative impact it produces," the petition said.
It is estimated between 200,000 and 500,000 Roma and Sinti people were murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust.
Even Downing Street has weighed in on the controversy, with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's spokesperson saying on Tuesday that Carr's "comments are deeply disturbing and it's unacceptable to make light of genocide."
The government is "toughening measures for social media and streaming platforms who don't tackle harmful content," he added.
Asked whether Netflix should pull the show, the spokesman said: "That will be a matter for them. We are clear that mocking the atrocities of the Holocaust is unacceptable."
For his part, Carr, 49, responded to the controversy surrounding the viral joke, saying that he would "going down swinging," Sky News reported.
Over the weekend, the comedian reportedly responded to the controversy at a gig in Whitely Bay in Tyne and Wear when a fan heckled: "Are we going to talk about the Holocaust?"
According to the Mirror, Carr responded: "We are going to talk about cancel culture, the whole thing. We are speaking, my friends, in the last chance saloon. What I am saying on stage this evening is barely acceptable now. In 10 years, f****** forget about it.
"I am going to get canceled, that's the bad news. The good news is I am going down swinging. The joke that ends my career is already out there. It's on YouTube, Netflix, or whatever, and it's fine until one day it f****** isn't."
The comedian reportedly added: "You are going to be able to tell your grandchildren about seeing this show tonight. You will say I saw a man and he stood on a stage and he made light of serious issues. We used to call them jokes and people would laugh."
He then went on to claim that his ability to tell inappropriate jokes is the result of a "rare psychological disorder."
The joke also prompted criticism from his fellow comedians, such as David Baddiel, who noted he was a close friend of Carr's.
I said this every night during my Trolls: Not The Dolls tour as part of a bit arguing that it's not the subject matter of a joke that counts, it's the specifics of the individual joke. Clearly, Jimmy Carr's was the former. pic.twitter.com/xI4yWt9U0T
— David Baddiel (@Baddiel) February 5, 2022
Last week, the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust shared a statement on Twitter from chief executive Olivia Marks-Woldman, who was "horrified" to hear "gales of laughter" after Carr's remarks.
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On Tuesday, Marks-Woldman posted a tweet urging people to learn more about bout Roma and Sinti people.
If you're a bit baffled by the Jimmy Carr furore & are wondering why the fuss about 'jokes', then do learn more about Roma & Sinti people via @HMD_UK https://t.co/Ty3w8xjk0H
— Olivia Marks-Woldman (@OliviaRMW) February 8, 2022
The Traveller Movement, a charity supporting the traveler community in the UK, also launched a petition calling for Netflix to remove the segment of the program "which celebrates the Romani genocide." It said the joke in question was "truly disturbing and goes way beyond humor."
Sharing a statement on Twitter, the charity Friends, Families, Travellers, said it was "disgusted and outraged" by the comedian's comments.
Murder is "no laughing matter," it said.
The murder of 500,000 Roma and Sinti people is no laughing matter @jimmycarr.
We are outraged and deeply distressed to see Jimmy Carr joking about the Roma Holocaust on @netflix. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/IKxWxu0I9r
— Friends, Families & Travellers (@GypsyTravellers) February 4, 2022
Gypsy leaders also invited the stand-up performer to Auschwitz to remember the genocide later this year.
