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Comedy

12th Oct 2022

Jimmy Carr ‘being sued by dad’ over jokes about his heritage

Charlie Herbert

Jimmy Carr 'being sued' by dad

He has previously labelled his son a “shock jock” who has made “derogatory” comments about his heritage

Jimmy Carr’s father is reportedly for defamation suing his son over a joke that “crossed the line”.

The alleged move is said to have been inspired after Carr’s father, who is named Jim, read the comedian’s book Before & Laughter, in which he joked about his parents.

Earlier this year, Jim called his son out for jokes he deemed to have “crossed the line”, calling him “one sick comedian, literally and metaphorically”.

The 49-year-old comic’s dad called his son a “shock jock” after making what he deemed to be “derogatory” and “offensive” comments about his family’s Irish heritage in his most recent book, Before & Laughter.

Originally released in September last year, Carr included details of his heritage, writing: “I’m the son of two immigrants from Limerick who moved to Slough (they moved from a s*** town to another s*** town, I guess they knew what they liked).”

Reflecting on the comments, his father told the Limerick Leader that he feels he “crossed the line”, adding that while he knows his son’s defence “will be, ‘they are only words, I’m only having a laugh’”, he doesn’t want anyone “writing that about Limerick in a book.”

Before and Laughter

Carr Sr. was so offended, in fact, that he has even written to the Mayor of Limerick City and County Council, Daniel Butler, to revoke an honour awarded to the comedian.

According to The Mirror, a source said that Carr’s father has now described his son’s comments as “lies” and had reportedly decided to sue him for defamation in an attempt to “end the nonsense”.

This is not the first time Jim has taken issue with comments made by his son.

In 2006, he won an out-of-court settlement of £12,000 from the Sunday Telegraph following an interview with the comedian that his father said was “defamatory”.

He said of the result: “My son has made false statements about me to various newspapers and even to the police. I have received apologies or damages from all concerned, save my son.”

8 Out of 10 Cats host Jimmy revealed back in 2021 that he hasn’t spoken to his father in more than 21 years, telling fellow comics Rob Beckett and Josh Widdicombe on the Parenting Hell podcast: “You know the line, ‘my mother’s dead and my father’s dead to me’ – which sounds very cold until you meet the guy”.

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