Oh dear, the controversy chief strikes again. The antics of Jimmy Carr have gotten BBC’s The One Show into serious trouble with TV bosses Ofcom after the popular comedian made jokes about dwarfism; which have been ruled in breach of the broadcasting code. During his stint on the popular magazine-style show, Carr racked up eleven complaints for three inappropriate jokes, with the other topic being about the Welsh and sheep.
However, his gag about dwarfism seemed to cause the most offence: “I tried to write the shortest joke possible, so I wrote a two-word joke, which was, ‘Dwarf shortage’. Just so I could pack more jokes into the show”. Following a rather shocked response from the audience, he looked straight into the camera and added “If you’re a dwarf and you’re offended by that… grow up!”.
Three of the eleven complaints objecting to the “disgusting” and “offensive” originated from sufferers of dwarfism and those who have family members with dwarfism. In their latest bulletin, (page twenty-four), Ofcom weight up the factors before deciding that the jokes were indeed a breach of its code. The BBC responded that: “Any humour alluding to disability has the potential to offend and, although the BBC received very few complaints on the issue, The One Show’s editor sincerely regrets any offence that has been caused by it”.
See the joke that caused the most offence below:
#Peace.Love.TheOneShow
