Image: Netflix
In 2022, Jimmy Carr released a Netflix stand-up special he explicitly labelled a “career-ender”. Within days, a single joke from the set dominated headlines, political debate and cultural criticism in the UK. Three years on, Carr has revisited the controversy in a wide-ranging interview on the Louis Theroux Podcast, addressing the backlash, the editing of viral clips, and where he draws the line between offence and intent.The joke appeared in His Dark Material, released on Netflix on Christmas Day 2022. In it, Carr referenced the Holocaust and said:“When people talk about the Holocaust, they talk about the tragedy and horror of 6 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 wants to talk about that, because no one ever wants to talk about the positives.”The line was met with laughter and applause from the live audience. When a clip circulated on social media days later, it triggered widespread condemnation. Historians and advocacy groups pointed out that between 200,000 and 500,000 Roma and Sinti people were murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators.
“Clipped in a way that removed context”
Speaking to Theroux, Carr said the clip had been shared without the framing he had built around it during the show. He argued that the viral excerpt removed warnings he gave immediately before and after the joke.“It was clipped in a way that removed a bit before the joke and after the joke where it’s contextualised,” Carr said.“If you clip it up in the wrong way you can cause controversy.”Carr told Theroux the joke was an intentional attempt to say “the worst possible thing” while discussing the Holocaust, insisting the audience understood that he did not mean it literally.“No one at the show thinks for a second I think that,” he said.“It is kind of an interesting thing because people don’t know that bit of history.The Romani people call the Holocaust ‘The Devouring’.”
Jimmy Carr spoke out about the controversy on a new podcast episode (Louis Theroux Podcast / Spotify)
He described Roma and Sinti communities as a “poetic beautiful people” and said the intention was to force attention onto a part of Holocaust history that remains less widely discussed.Carr acknowledged that the controversy was a foreseeable outcome of the section of the show he had explicitly labelled “career-enders”.“If you’re going to go down that road, if you’re going to do a bit of the show called ‘career-enders’, you have to expect there’s going to be some people that are going to be upset.”
Political response and institutional criticism
At the time, the joke drew criticism from senior politicians. Then culture secretary Nadine Dorries called the comments “abhorrent” and suggested the clip should be removed from Netflix.Carr said he did not closely follow the backlash and repeated a line he has used before when addressing public criticism.“Other people’s opinions about me is none of my business.”Asked specifically about Dorries’ comments, he responded with a joke:“How is she doing?”Theroux also referenced a tweet from Dorries in which she said that “left-wing snowflakes are killing comedy”. She later clarified her position, saying, via the BBC:“Well, that’s not comedy.”Carr said Netflix did not pressure him to apologise or engage in formal outreach following the backlash.“Netflix were like, ‘Do your thing. We signed you up, we okay this, great’.”He also cited fellow comedian Dave Chappelle when discussing offence and intent in stand-up.“The joke that makes you roll around laughing and you can’t wait to tell your friends, and the joke that offends you and you think is disgusting come from the same place,” Carr said.“We’re trying to make you laugh, trying to lighten the load of life.We’re paid for the attempt, like Evil Knievel, we’re paid for the attempt — we’re not paid for the joke. Sometimes swing and a miss, sometimes it offends.”The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust strongly criticised the routine at the time, saying it was “absolutely appalled” by Carr’s remarks and by the laughter that followed them.In a statement, the Trust said:“Hundreds of thousands of Roma and Sinti people suffered prejudice, slave labour, sterilisation and mass murder simply because of their identity, these are not experiences for mockery.”His Dark Material remains available on Netflix. Carr has continued touring internationally and has not removed the material from his set. Go to Source
