The BBC and Channel 4 are self-censoring their comedy output because they are so terrified of offending people. So says Jimmy Mulville, the producer of Have I Got News For You, who claims ‘cancel culture’ has resulted in a fearful atmosphere in these institutions:
‘People who cause offence now can be cancelled. And the BBC are worried about it. I know that Channel 4 is worried about it, they’re all worried about it. I’m not blaming them, it’s the culture in which we live.’
This is becoming a familiar complaint. Comedian Dawn French recently bemoaned how censoriousness and offence-seeking was suffocating comedy. She said it was increasingly impossible to make risky, naughty or transgressive humour because you ‘have so many haters on your back and I don’t know how we explore it anymore.’
The big problem shared by those who find offence in comedy is a failure to distinguish between ‘laughing at’ and ‘laughing with’
Such ban-happy culture has become a monster this year, with its confined and bored keyboard warriors more active than ever.
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