Jo Brand and battery acid comment

[decisionsindecisions]

I love Jo Brand. I love her stand up comedy and I think she's great when she presents HIGNFY.

I don't know what to make of this comment that she has apparently made regarding throwing battery acid instead of milkshake. Some people are saying this is comedy. Some people are disgusted by the comment. I sit somewhere in the middle of this. I think it's in poor taste and to be honest I am surprised that someone of her obvious intelligence would say something like this. But at the same time we live in a free society.

I just wondered what people on here think about it?

www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/jo-brand-sparks-fury-by-saying-politicians-should-have-battery-acid-thrown-at-them-instead-of-a4165941.html

It isn't free speech to say that those who hate Farage could "get some battery acid". It's incitement to violence and she may have committed a criminal offence. Imagine if Piers Morgan had said this about Diane Abbott. He would have been sacked instantly. Just because the target is someone you dislike (and I don't support him either) that doesn't mean it's ok. It's about the kind of society you want to live in. And I don't want to live in one where it's acceptable to suggest "nasty" politicians should have acid thrown at them.

Didn’t the BBC sack Danny Baker over inappropriate comments/photo?

Yet they are defending Jo Brand?

"It isn't a joke and acid attacks aren't ridiculous. They ruin lives."

Excuse me? Where did I say acid attacks are ridiculous? I think you need to read more carefully before making it sound like I said something I didn't.

Whether you find it funny or not (which I also don't), she intended it as a joke.

I don't want to live in a country where you can't say what you like, whether it is tasteful or not. People joke about all sorts of things that I find distasteful. And they have a right to. We also have a right to say that we don't like it. But that doesn't mean we have to try to act like this is an incitement to violence, because it clearly isn't.

a friend told me she heard the whole thing in context and it was obviously funny, a joke, a clever joke apparently in the context of the show....

I can't think of any context in which it's okay though. I could dig out the whole clip but I just don't care how it was said. It's not okay.

She didn't say what hundreds of other people haven't said in private. Her mistake was to say it on the radio.

Jo is a national treasure. She's allowed to drive too near the edge on occasion.

Farage's hypocrisy is the main problem for me. He'll pick up a gun apparently if brexit doesn't happen. Dangerous words.

I think she overstepped the mark

I think she has made a mistake in this instance.

But Farage and his ilk have done far more in reality to encourage divisive language, prejudice and racism than Jo Brand ever will.

Soola Yes they did. It appears as though there are some double standards being shown by the Beeb.

I'm not keen on Jo Brand or Nigel Farage. I think it was meant as a joke but fell flat, not every joke works and of course she hasn't said it with intent.
Nigel Farage being up in arms about it is annoying as he has always been one for free speech. It seems he likes freespeech as long as it is not against him.
I think, in this case, it is a lot of fuss over little. It is not genuine hate speech where Jo Brand is encouraging an attack or whipping up a crowd Into a frenzy. It was just poor judgement .

@IAmAlwaysLikeThis You said:
"That's kind of the point of the joke though. It's taking things to a ridiculous extreme."
Advocating an acid attack on a politician isn't a ridiculous extreme. It could well be incitement to violence, which is a criminal offence. Acid attacks aren't ridiculous. Ask a victim or read Katie Piper's book.

The context is it was a joke, on a comedy show that has a known tone. If you tuned in to that show you knew what to expect.

"Jo is a national treasure. She's allowed to drive too near the edge on occasion."

this is really dangerous territory. I hated what Farage said about "not a single shot was fired" and IMHO, after we've actually had an MP killed recently, Jo's remark is unacceptable.

I don't know if she's employed by the BBC, freelance, whatever, but she should lose out over this.

I don't know anything about this but at face value, I'd say NF is more of a threat and dangerous than one quip that was never serious.

If anybody had thrown battery acid as a result of her remark fair enough, but nobody has. So stop being ridiculous you're drawing more attention to something that you claim To be offended by.

She didn't say what hundreds of other people haven't said in private. I never joke about throwing acid over people. It's a despicable and cowardly crime.

Petition here

www.change.org/p/bbc-sack-jo-brand-over-her-comments-regarding-throwing-battery-acid

My first thought when I heard it was if that had been said 10-20 years ago when the concept was so far away from what 99% of people would have thought of a possible then it would have been an out there comment but the not thought of as based in fact.

The thing is now though acid attacks are happening more and more and becoming a "thing" now. we can all probably recall at least 4 or 5 relatively recent examples of this type of attack so it was in this climate an ill informed joke.

@derxa

No one hates Jeremy Corbyn more than I do but I would never wish acid to be thrown at him or anyone else.

So it only becomes a problem if someone attacks Farage? If you're happy with this kind of language being used in public, you will have to accept it being used about you or your children. Do you still think it's ok?

I wouldn't sign a petition for her to be sacked. People say unpalatable things and its fine to then not like them much because of it.

Whether you find it funny or not (which I also don't), she intended it as a joke.

Well that’s ok then. We can all say whatever we want and then say we were joking. So if I were to say all gays/Jews/pensioners/Bulgarians/SAHMs, insert whichever group you want to, should have acid thrown at them and then said, ‘ha ha, only joking, didn’t really mean it’, that would be acceptable would it?

" Acid attacks aren't ridiculous. Ask a victim or read Katie Piper's book."

And again, I did not say they were.

I said that talking about throwing acid on NF was taking things to a ridiculous extreme.

If you can't distinguish between those two statements, I don't know how to help you.

"Well that’s ok then. We can all say whatever we want and then say we were joking. So if I were to say all gays/Jews/pensioners/Bulgarians/SAHMs, insert whichever group you want to, should have acid thrown at them and then said, ‘ha ha, only joking, didn’t really mean it’, that would be acceptable would it?"

Is it acceptable? I didn't say so, I don't think.

I said it was intended as a joke.

I didn't say anywhere that I found it an acceptable statement to make.

Jo Brand got Carol Thatcher sacked from the One Show over a remark she allegedly made about a tennis player in the green room. It was her word against Jo Brand's but Carol Thatcher has never worked for the BBC since. If they continue to employ Jo Brand they are showing double standards.

I've just listened to the whole clip, and whilst I have loved Jo Brand for many years, I was horrified. Yes, she says it's a fantasy, but also says that the milkshakes are "pathetic", which to me sounded as though he needed something more damaging/less pathetic thrown at him.

I have no time for Nigel Farage, and I abhor what he stands for, but I don't believe anyone deserves having milkshakes thrown at them, let alone something that is going to harm them or worse. He should be able to go about his work and daily life free from physical attacks, as we all should.

I am deeply disappointed by her comments. Publicly talking about seriously harming someone, whether fantasy or not is dangerous and offensive.