Should Channel 4 apologise to Katie Price?

[sp1814]

Frankie Boyle told a joke about Katie Price's son Harvey on a recent show:

http://www.independen...-her-son-2155543.html

Should CH4 apologise, or is a joke just a joke.

By the way, the link above doesn't contain the joke itself because frankly, it IS tasteless in the extreme...however, the Daily Mail published the joke in their coverage:

http://www.dailymail....abled-son-Harvey.html

[Ankou]

"we all might laught at a joke about the disabled in general, in a kinda "oh god, that's terrible, but worryingly funny" kinda way, but when it's about a specific person, it's no longer funny."

bet you've passed on a few helen keller jokes in your time though eh...?! :o]

[China Doll]

Yeah, I see what you're saying. However, I just can't answer honestly whether I would have laughed or not as not heard it yet. I think there's a high chance I might have laughed.

[B00]

Helen Keller? The author?

errr no? Any reason why I should have Ankou?

[Sqad]

Jews, Scots, Irish, disabled, named, unnamed,well endowed, poorly endowed have all been the but of humour.

I laughed.

[jackthehat]

It's the sexual content that offends me..............

I'm not trying to take any particular moral high-ground; I also have a perverse sense of humour, I just find the specific target of this 'joke' completely undeserving of it.

[B00]

Dead children sqad?

[Ankou]

....stephen hawkings...?

...joey deacon...?

...kevin keegan...?*

times haven't changed that much.




* if only for the perm and falling off that bike.

[Sqad]

Dead children? Have I missed a post?

No, I would think the line at that.

[Sqad]

sorry.....I would draw the line at that.

[eyethenkyew]

Apologise for what? Harvey wouldn't have "got" the "joke", would he? No, he's too young. And let's face it, his mother's a total attention seeker who helps bring all kinds of publicity upon her and her family. She's a latter day Princess Diana who's more than happy to hear the "kerrr - ching" of the money cascading into her bank account at every possible opportunity, who has freely chosen to expose her children to the full glare of television cameras etc without any thought at all, as long as it meant boosting her bank account.

The problem lies in the fact that Boyle, who has "previous" for making similar outbursts, was hired for the show in the first place. Channel 4 knew what they were getting when they took him on, so why should they apologise? It was a deliberate ploy on their part to shock, knowing full well that Boyle is a loose cannon more than capable of delivering such "shock tactics". Hence, trying to get an apology from either Channel 4 or, God forbid, Boyle himself, would be like expecting Hitler to have apologised for the Holocaust.

So the only way Boyle could be brought to book is for one of his countrymen to anoint him with the proverbial "Glesca Kiss". And if any "apologising" is to be done it should be from the feckless attention seeking mother of Harvey who exposed him to this sort of jibe in the first place.

[sir.prize]

///but the minute they target a specific person, that to me, is too far.///

Exactly - and that is precisely what AB Editor says all the time.

[jd_1984]

However, Katie gets on her high horse and threatens legal action. There is an argument that she is hardly mother of the year and if she exposes her kids in these reality programmes then they are fair game to comedians?
I disagree with poking fun at Harvey, but can see both sides

[B00]

Oh bugger, i've been busted....

[ludwig]

Boyle is an odious Snag. You have to wonder whether his sparents didn't give him enough attention as a child or something. It's not for him to apologise though - he does what he does. It's channel 4 that need to apologise for broadcasting it.

To the people saying 'If you don't like it switch off/don't go to the shows', that's no good I'm afraid. You can't just air any obnoxious nonsense and then tell people who don't like it to use the off switch. If you could we'd probably have puppy strangling and simulated rape gameshows - 'hey if you don't like watching puppies being strangled stop whinging and change channels!'.

[jd_1984]

Simulated Rape Gameshows - who would present them ludwig?

[squarebear]

Can I ask how many people who are complaining about Frankie Boyle actually saw his show?
If you watch him, you should know what to expect. However, I suspect the majority of posters here have only heard about it from the newspaper articles.

[jackthehat]

^That's exactly 'why' I don't watch him, squarebear.
Reading his words instead of hearing them doesn't increase or decrease their nastiness.

[squarebear]

Then I would say the newspapers are at fault for giving this non-news story air time. This is standard Frankie Boyle fayre. No news story here.

The people who enjoy his humour will have watched his show, been shocked and moved on. Now it is in the paper, people who wouldn't normally listen to him are up in arms.

What's in next week's edition. Print a load of Chubby Brown jokes and see the public kick off again?

[jd_1984]

Is it not a matter of intent.
As poor as the taste may seem, I dont think he revels in taking the p**s out of the disabled. It is his brand of comedy and he has a big following, his intention is to make those who follow him and his brand of humor laugh..?