Should Joan Rivers be able to tell tasteless holocaust joke just because she is Jewish?

I thought the point was that the 'joke' was offensive to Germans, Bags.

I don't interpret what Rivers said as in any way offensive to Jews. I interpret it as a reminder, by a play on words, of what the Nazis did to the Jews. She doesn't want people to forget the Holocaust. There's nothing unusual about that. We are always being told that each generation must learn about the Holocaust, lest we forget, and quite right too.

What Rivers said is only a 'joke' insofar as it is a play on words, the words 'hot' and 'German' in particular. If anything it pushes home the point that many of the Jews who were killed by the Nazis were Germans. Some of them will have been more 'German' than Hitler.

It is not an offensive joke. It is a reminder of something offensive. Something we need to remember.

I thought Klum looked reasonable from the waist down and from the neck up, but the supposedly 'hot' bit was simply in bad taste. But that is just a matter of taste, I suppose.

Who said it was a joke?

It's nothing compared with the jokes that were levelled at her when she was the 'victim' of a 'roast'...There's little room for 'good taste' in comedy - it would be out of place!

Have seen the actual joke now, yes have to agree it's offensive. Sasha Baron-Cohen also treads a fine line at times, but have to admit do find him funny. However, as janeainsworth has said this particular JR joke is unacceptable to the target, Heidi Klum.

Gracesmum if you were referring to my post, could you read what I have said properly.

If a German had said that the last time she saw a Jew that hot she was being put into the ovens the world would be up in arms and quite rightly so. JR has gone too far. It's a racist comment as far as I'm concerned.

It's tasteless and unacceptable because it's projecting the guilt of the Nazis onto one individual who wasn't even born at the time of the Holocaust.

There may be worse than that, but it does not make it either 1) funny or 2) acceptable. As soop said, sick and not remotely funny.

Can't stand Joan Rivers - her kind of humour is dated and tasteless. I've heard a few holocaust jokes which actually were funny because they had unexpected punchlines which turned the tables on the nazis, but this one isn't funny.

This is a lot worse than that!

Meant a few not many, mainly rappers.

JR should be ashamed of herself. Sick and not remotely humorous.

I do find Joan Rivers funny and I do like Jewish humour, similar to Irish in that it is often self deprecating. I'm digressing slightly here, but I hate the N word, really hate it, but it seems that many black people use it about each other. I wish they wouldn't

Yes merlotgran I like Jewish humour, it's usually clever. I have always thought Joan Rivers' humour was quite cruel.

That is horrific

I agree not funny

I normally like Jewish humour but this isn't funny.

I also agree. I do like Joan Rivers but this is scraping the barrel.

No that is a step too far, I agree, barrow.