JIMMY Carr is facing a fresh backlash after reportedly joking that child sex abuse victims should laugh off their trauma in an unearthed podcast interview.
The controversial comedian has been criticised by Childline founder Dame Esther Rantzen, 81, for his comments.
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During the podcast chat, Jimmy allegedly said: “I have done a lot of jokes about paedophilia and I am sure at every show there is someone that was inappropriately touched. I am sure.
“You just look at the statistics and say, ‘Well that has to be the case’.
“And how do you process that? How do you win? Well, the best reward is a life well lived and to move on and laugh about it.”
But Dame Esther hit out at his comments, telling the Sunday People: “When you suffer abuse as a child, particularly sexual abuse but any type of abuse or neglect, it can lead to very deep scars.
“Personally I have never met a survivor who laughed about it or found it funny even when they’ve moved on and made a tremendous success as many do.”
It comes after Jimmy faced calls for a police investigation after joking about the genocide of gypsies in the holocaust.
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During his His Dark Materials Netflix special, Jimmy joked the mass murder of Romani and Sinti people during World War II was a positive thing.
He refused to back down when he returned to live shows following the furore surrounding the vile gag.
Taking to the stage at the Whitley Bay Playhouse, he told the audience “the joke that ends my career is already out there.”
He said: “We are speaking my friends in the last chance saloon.
“What I am saying on stage this evening is barely acceptable now. In ten years f***ing forget about it.
“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.”
Celebrity Big Brother and My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding star Paddy Doherty said of the holocaust joke: “He should be investigated by the police.
“That wasn’t a joke. He’s talking about mass murder being a positive – would he be allowed to say this about black people killed by the Ku Klux Klan?
“There’s a level you don’t go to. More than a million of my people were killed.”
While Jimmy’s close friend and fellow comedian David Baddiel said the gag was “cruel and inhumane and mean-spirited and racist” in a Twitter thread.
He added: “As a footnote, I’d add that Jimmy is a close friend of mine and a brilliant stand-up in general. Makes no difference to how I feel or think about this specific joke.”
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