Katie Price takes action over Frankie Boyle gags
Update: 2pm, Friday 10th December: OFCOM have confirmed they are investigating Frankie Boyle's Tramadol Nights after receiving about 50 complaints, including one from Price. But they say a judgement on Boyle's comments would not be determined until the new year.
A spokesman for Ofcom said: "We can confirm that we have received a complaint from Katie Price. Having considered this and other viewers' concerns we have now launched an investigation into the show."
Glamour model Katie Price, aka Jordan, is to complain to media regulator OFCOM after Frankie Boyle made some very strong jokes about her disabled son Harvey.
The gags were broadcast as part of the comedian's new TV show, Frankie Boyle's Tramadol Nights, which was shown on Channel 4 on Tuesday night.
In one of the jokes, the stand-up star said: "Apparently Jordan and Peter Andre are still fighting each other over custody of Harvey... eventually one of them will lose and have to keep him."
He then followed it up with: 'I have a theory that Jordan married a cage fighter because she needed someone strong enough to stop Harvey fucking her."
Talking to The Daily Mail, Price said of her son: "Harvey is a little miracle. Every day he overcomes so many difficulties with the help of family and medical experts and has so many tiny battles to win due to his medical problems and autism. I love him and am deeply proud to be his mother. If Mr Boyle had a tenth of his courage and decency he would know that to suggest, let alone think it funny, that Harvey may sexually attack me is vile and deeply unfair."
See added: "Mr Boyle clearly has serious issues and those that give him a TV platform to say such disgusting things need to look at themselves very honestly. To bully this unbelievably brave child is despicable, to broadcast it on television is to show a complete and utter lack of judgment. I have asked my lawyers to write to Channel 4 on Harvey's behalf."
According to the paper, Price has yet to receive an apology. Her spokesperson later said: "We are deeply saddened that, despite requests, Channel 4 has not met the 5pm deadline for an apology. Accordingly, on Katie Price's instructions, we can confirm that we have had no option but to formally complain to OFCOM on Harvey Price's behalf about the comments."
However, it appears the network is not going to willingly apologise. A Channel 4 spokesperson told MailOnline: "Frankie Boyle is one of the highest profile comedians in the UK; he's well known for his controversial humour and the programme carried appropriate warnings as to the nature of the material. The joke aired in the context of a late night comedy show. The joke itself has been performed by Frankie as part of his stage show and, as with much of his material, is an absurdist and satirical comment on high profile individuals whose lives have been played out in the media."
This is not the first time Frankie Boyle has been accused of being excessively offensive. During his tenure on Mock The Week he was censored by the BBC Trust for saying that sports star Rebecca Adlington looked like she was "looking at herself in the back of a spoon", and the BBC received complaints in 2007 after Boyle made a "highly personal remark" about The Queen.
It's possible this latest Frankie Boyle story may yet expand, as preceding the jokes about Harvey Price, Boyle delivered some sexually orientated jokes about cancer victim Jade Goody, which some internet users have labeled "deeply offensive."