Channel 4 criticised for Jimmy Carr show involving Hitler painting

A new Channel 4 show in which a studio audience will decide whether comedian Jimmy Carr should destroy a painting by Adolf Hitler has been criticised.

The channel has bought works by Hitler and other "problematic" artists to be used in Jimmy Carr Destroys Art.

Channel 4 said the series would be "a thoughtful and nuanced exploration of the limits of free expression in art".

But the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust called it "deeply inappropriate" and said Carr was an "inflammatory" host.

Earlier this year, the comedian was heavily criticised for performing a routine about the Holocaust in his latest Netflix stand-up special.

The Channel 4 show, to be screened later this month, is also expected to feature artworks by Rolf Harris, the former entertainer who was found guilty of the sexual assault of underage girls, and sexual abuser Eric Gill.

Channel 4's director of programming Ian Katz told the Guardian that Carr would host a televised debate about what to do with the pieces in question.

"There are advocates for each piece of art," he said. "So you've got an advocate for Hitler. There'll be someone arguing not for Hitler, but for the fact that his moral character should not decide whether or not a piece of art exists or not."

But Holocaust Memorial Day Trust chief executive Olivia Marks-Woldman said: "There is nothing entertaining or laughable about Hitler or the murder of six million Jews, and the persecution of millions more."

The show was making the Nazi leader "a topic of light entertainment", she said, adding: "This is deeply inappropriate, and at a time of increasing Holocaust distortion, dangerously trivialising.

"The question of how far art can be linked to its creators is an important one, but this programme is simply a stunt for shock value, and cannot excuse the trivialisation of the horrors of Nazism."

Ms Marks-Woldman added: "Choosing Jimmy Carr to front this episode is deliberately provocative and inflammatory given his history."

A Channel 4 spokesman said: "Jimmy Carr Destroys Art is a thoughtful and nuanced exploration of the limits of free expression in art, and whether work by morally despicable artists still deserves to be seen.

"It speaks directly to the current debate around cancel culture and is in a long tradition of Channel 4 programming."

Carr did not publicly comment on the backlash he faced over his Holocaust routine earlier this year.