English comedian Jimmy Carr has been slammed for a "disturbing" holocaust joke about the Gypsy community which has been branded "disgusting" and "grotesque".
Carr, who is most famous for appearing in 8 Out of 10 Cats, recently released a Netflix show on Christmas Day 2021 called, His Dark Material.
Carr said the show contained "terrible things" and some of the jokes are "career enders" while the synopsis of the programme said the performance found humour "in the darkest of places".
"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," he said."
"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."
Carr went on to defend the joke saying it was "f**king funny", "edgy as all hell" and because it had an "educational quality".
It's estimated that around 200,000 to 500,000 Roma and Sinti people were murdered by the Nazis during the Holocaust.
The Traveller Movement - which works in partnership with the travelling community to challenge discrimination and promote inclusion - has started a petition for Netflix to remove segments of His Dark Material which celebrates the Romani genocide.
"We are absolutely appalled at Jimmy Carr's comment about persecution suffered by Roma and Sinti people under Nazi oppression, and horrified that gales of laughter followed his remarks," the charity's chief executive Olivia Marks-Woldman 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.
"The widespread ignorance of this recent history beads to be addressed and we urge everyone to learn more about the past and the experiences of Roma people today."
The campaign to remove parts of the Netflix show has gained the backing of UK politicians including Labour MP for Nottingham East, Nadia Whittome, who described Carr's show as "vile anti-GRT and antisemitic material".
Coventry South Labour MP Zarah Sultana branded the joke "grotesque" and "disgusting beyond words".
"Mocking racist genocide has no place in comedy or a decent society," she tweeted.
