Comedian Boyle under fire

Senior News Reporter

Saturday 20 October 2012

SCOTS comedian Frankie Boyle has come under fire in court from a tabloid newspaper, which he is suing for libel after it described him as a racist.

ACTION: Glaswegian comic Frankie Boyle is suing The Mirror.

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MARTIN WILLIAMS

A lawyer representing the Daily Mirror told a High Court jury that Mr Boyle was callous and insensitive.

Ronald Thwaites, QC, said jurors should not find in the comedian's favour, but that if jurors believed that Boyle had in fact been libelled they should show their contempt by awarding damages of 45p – the price of a copy of the Daily Mirror.

However, a lawyer representing Boyle said being called racist was extremely serious and defamatory.Boyle has complained that the Daily Mirror libelled him when it described him as "racist comedian Frankie Boyle" in an article.He says he has actively campaigned against racism, that he parodies racists and claims that the newspaper misunderstood the context of his use of language in jokes.Daily Mirror publisher Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN) is defending its article, published on July 19 last year.MGN lawyers have described Boyle as a racist comedian who gratuitously exploits negative stereotypes of black people for "cheap laughs".The trial, at the High Court in London, is due to end next week."He sets himself up as a man of principle," Mr Thwaites told jurors. "This man doesn't have a sensitive bone in his body."Thwaites said Boyle made money by telling callous jokes about people who were suffering.He said Boyle told jokes about missing toddler Madeleine McCann and about reality TV star Jade Goody, who died of cancer three years ago. "He's doing these things for money," said Mr Thwaites. "There is a level of callousness here, a level of insensitivity about the feelings of others that you might want to take into account."David Sherborne, for Boyle, said the racist description was an extremely serious allegation."This is the first time he has ever taken a newspaper to court despite the enormous amount of criticism his material generates," said Mr Sherborne."It is not like calling him tasteless. It is not like calling him offensive. It is not like calling him vile."The Glasgow-based comedian earlier said he thought it important to highlight racists by mocking their attitudes in comedy routines.Jurors were previously shown footage from the BBC satirical show Mock The Week in which Boyle and other comedians discussed the topic of immigration. Boyle said he was pretending to be someone with racist views during the episode.Boyle's brand of humour has often proved controversial. Last year, broadcasting watchdog Ofcom upheld more than 500 complaints about his Channel 4 show Tramadol nights, in which he joked about model Katie Price's disabled son, Harvey.In 2008, the BBC had to apologise when Boyle made a joke about Palestine on Radio 4.A year after that, BBC Two's Mock The Week was criticised by the BBC Trust over comments Boyle made about swimmer Rebecca Adlington 's appearance.The hearing continues.

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Comedian Boyle under fire

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