Protestors have gathered outside of a Jimmy Carr gig this evening in the wake of recent comments he made about the Traveller community. Take a look below:
Campaigners have been seen outside the Corn Exchange in Cambridge tonight (16 February), where Carr is due to perform, with many holding placards that said: “Mass murder in the Holocast is no joke! Never again!”
According to the Guardian, the protest was organised by organisation Cambridge Stand Up To Racism, which said in a statement beforehand: “Challenging these remarks is particularly important in Cambridge which hosts a Travellers community which often receives adverse publicity and verbal abuse.”
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The outlet said anti-racist student groups were also planning to join the protest, while Cambridge City Council confirmed the venue would be lit up as a mark of solidarity to the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities, and that leaflets would be handed out outside.
Alex Collis, Deputy Leader of Cambridge City Council, tweeted to thank people for ‘peacefully’ protesting.
Sharing photos from this evening, Collis wrote: “Thanks to everyone protesting peacefully outside the Corn Exchange tonight ahead of #JimmyCarr gig. Holocaust ‘jokes’ are never appropriate. @CambridgeLabour cllrs stand in solidarity with our #GRT communities.”
Someone else also posted a video of the protest underway, saying: “Serious #JimmyCarr protest in Cambridge. Didn’t quite expect this as the backdrop to my Carluccios dinner!”
Another added: “Gypsy protesters outside corn exchange in Cambridge tonight #jimmycarr.”
The comedian has been heavily criticised after making controversial comments in recent Netflix special His Dark Material, which came out on Christmas Day, having described ‘thousands of gypsies killed by the Nazis’ as one of the Holocaust’s ‘positives’.
In the joke, which he began by warning the audience to ‘strap in’, Carr 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."
The comedian has previously spoken out about 'cancel culture', having told LADbible last year: "It used to be, if you didn't like a comedian that was on telly or something, you'd tut and switch the channel.
"Now you can go on social media and go, 'This f*****g guy, I've never liked this guy'.
"I think it's good that everyone's got a voice. But it doesn't mean that, just because you don't like it, we should get rid of it.
"I don't like people being de-platformed. I don't like people being cancelled. I kind of think everyone's got a right to do their thing - if it's not for you, it's not for you, and it's fine."
Topics: UK News, Jimmy Carr, Celebrity
Jess Hardiman