Jimmy Carr’s father is said to be 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 and Laughter, in which he joked about his parents.
In June, Jim criticised the 2021 book, in which the 8 Out of 10 Cats host wrote: “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).”
Jim told Limerick Leader at the time that his son had “crossed the line”, and found Carr’s comments to be so “derogatory” and “offensive” that he called on the Mayor of Limerick, Limerick City and County Council to revoke an honour awarded to the comedian in 2013.
Carr was given a Certificate of Irish Heritage award, which hailed “descendants of previous generations of Irish citizens in an official way” from 2011 to 2015.
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”.
Jim previously won an out-of-court settlement of £12,000 from The Sunday Telegraph following an interview with Carr that his father said was “defamatory”.
He said of the result in 2006: “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.”
Following Carr’s comments in the book, Jim branded his son a “shock jock”, stating: “He’s one sick comedian… literally and metaphorically. It looks like it anyway. Leave all that aside, I don’t want somebody writing that about Limerick in a book.”
He added: “His defence will be, ‘they are only words, I’m only having a laugh’.”
Last year, Carr revealed that he hasn’t spoken to his father for 21 years, saying he is “dead” to him.
“You know the line, ‘my mother’s dead and my father’s dead to me’ – which sounds very cold until you meet the guy,” he said during Rob Beckett and Josh Widdicombe’s Parenting Hell podcast.
The Independent has contacted Carr for comment.
