Russell Howard says the BBC made him "rewrite" a joke in case it "offended Isis".

Russell Howard

Russell Howard

The 38-year-old comedian was told to re-record a segment of his series 'Russell Howard's Good News' after show bosses "lost their mind" when he made a quip, saying the Islamic State group "weren't Muslims".

Speaking on his Sky One show 'The Russell Howard Hour', he said: "A while back I worked for the BBC and I did a piece about the Paris attacks when I said Isis weren't Muslims, they were terrorists - and the crowd cheered.

"And then, at the end of the show, the BBC lost their mind, [saying] 'You need to re-record it! You need to say Isis aren't 'devout Muslims'.

"I was like, 'Are you worried we are going to offend Isis?' 'Are they going to write in?' "

The comic then imagined a terrorist writing a letter of complaint to the Beeb: "'Dear Points Of View, imagine my horror when I was misrepresented on a late-night satire show.

"Farouk and I will be cancelling our TV licence. Please excuse my handwriting, I have a hook for a hand.' "

He added: "F**k those traitors to their faith! If they are killing people, the least I can do as a comedian is call them names. And if Isis gets upset, then f**k them."

The star's 'The Russell Hour Hour' show was recently recommissioned, and he admitted it was a "ridiculous privilege" to be able to continue work on the series.

In a statement, he said: "I absolutely love doing this show.

"It's such a ridiculous privilege that I get to write jokes as the world spins out of control."


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