An openly gay Irish Traveller from Kent has demanded an apology from Jimmy Carr after he made a "joke" about Gypsies being killed in the Holocaust.

The controversial comedian described the murder of hundreds of thousands of Romani and Sinti Gypsies by the Nazis as a “positive” in a Netflix special in December.

Martin Ward slams Jimmy Carr for his 'harmful' comments about Travellers on Netflix

Footage of the clip was shared on social media platforms over the weekend, prompting a backlash.

Mr Carr said: “When people talk about the Holocaust, they talk about the tragedy and horror of six million Jewish lives being lost to the Nazi war machine. But they never mention the thousands of Gypsies that were killed by the Nazis.

“No one ever wants to talk about that, because no one ever wants to talk about the positives.”

His remarks were condemned by anti-fascist groups which demanded a public apology and called for Netflix to remove the footage.

Various Gypsy, Roma and Traveller community groups believe Mr Carr's comments veil deep-seated prejudices and have accused the comedian of whipping up hate against a persecuted minority.

Among those upset by his remarks is Martin Ward, an openly gay Irish traveller from Northfleet, who believes the 8 out of 10 Cats host should be blacklisted.

"I can definitely say it has upset our community massively," he said. "I don't think any comedian should today in 2022 go out and say what Jimmy Carr has said.

"It's words that are very hard to swallow and I've spoken to a lot of my community including my uncle, Paddy Doherty and I'm sure people can see his videos and how it has made him feel."

The 30-year-old, who has appeared on reality TV shows and is a cousin of X Factor winner Shayne Ward, says he is a fervent supporter of free speech but believes the comedian's comments overstepped the mark.

Martin says it wouldn't be acceptable for Mr Carr to make similar remarks about other minority ethnic groups and believes the stand-up performer ought to be "stripped" of upcoming gigs.

He added: "I didn't actually think Jimmy Carr would be so desperate to come out with such a thing.

"I think he needs to come out to the Jewish community and the Travelling and Gypsy community, and I think he needs to apologise massively and fix the damage he has done across this nation."

It feeds into a bigger issue, adds Martin, which has seen people from his background marginalised historically.

"Things need to change. People need to understand there are good and bad in all walks of life," he said.

The YouTube and TikTok performer has called for better representation of Traveller voices on screen and for the media not just to focus on the "negatives".

And while he accepts any issues of crime and domestic violence linked to the community need to be addressed, Martin does not believe it is fair to "tarnish everyone with the same brush".

He added: "What I'd like to see in life is all sorts of opportunities for Travellers. More Travellers on TV, more Travellers singing, more Travellers as actors.

"When I have children I want my children to be accepted. I want my children to be treated like every other human being.

"Everybody needs to know in life it takes all sorts of people to make the world go around.

"If we were all the same man and woman it would be awful and it'd be very very boring."

It's something Martin knows all too well as an openly gay man coming from a community in which homosexuality is often still regarded as taboo.

"It was really tough and it was scary when I was young and I realised," he explained.

"I told my mother and my mother worried for me because obviously from the community we were from people were going to start probably bullying me and saying horrible things."

Meanwhile, Jimmy Carr told audiences in Manchester on Sunday it might be his last tour after controversy around his comments prompted calls to "cancel" the comedian.

His latest show 'His Dark Materials' is billed on streaming platforms as "dry, sardonic wit" – and some jokes he calls "career enders".

He has since said the "joke" had an "educational quality".

The comedian claimed it raised awareness as most people know about the millions of Jews murdered in concentration camps but not the hundreds of thousands of gypsies who died.

The Prime Minister was also drawn into the debate and responded: "Those comments are deeply disturbing and it’s unacceptable to make light of genocide."

Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries pointed out that Ofcom, the UK TV regulator, would soon gain increased powers over streamed services.

She has suggested new laws would hold to account sites like Netflix for airing such "jokes".

Speaking on BBC Breakfast, she said: “We are looking at legislation via the Media Bill which would bring into scope those comments from other video on-demand streaming outlets like Netflix.

“So it’s interesting that we’re already looking at future legislation to bring into scope those sort of comments.”

Ms Dorries said the remarks were “abhorrent and they just shouldn’t be on television”, but it was put to her that in a tweet in 2017 she had claimed that “left-wing snowflakes are killing comedy”.

She said: “Well, that’s not comedy. What Jimmy Carr did last night is not comedy."

Jimmy Carr's brand-new tour, Terribly Funny, includes multiple dates across Kent over the next three months.

These include the Churchill Theatre in Bromley on February 27, Chatham's Central Theatre on March 29 and Leas Cliff Hall in Folkestone on April 20.