But is charity offended or not?

Ricky Gervais has sparked a row after joking that Susan Boyle looks like a ‘mong’.

He has defended his use of the derogatory term for people with Down’s Syndrome i, even though it has offended many families affected by the condition.

As part of a routine in his current Science tour about unacceptable language, he says: ‘Look at Susan Boyle - if you can. Well, she's a mong, isn't she? She looks like a mong, doesn't she?’

He insists the routine is ‘about comedians taking responsibility for everything they say’, although not everyone has taken it that way.

On one internet fourm, ‘realityrocks’ wrote: ‘It's not acceptable to call anyone a name which in my mind is as bad as the n-word. My late sister had Down's and if someone called her that I'd have slapped him round the face, ironic or not.’

Elsewhere another fan reporting back on the show wrote: ‘He literally spends the first 10 minutes explaining how it's OK to call Susan Boyle a “mong”. Very poor from a man I used to admire.’

The Down’s Syndrome Association wrote to Gervais about their concerns his use of the term earlier this month. He told them: ‘I clearly explain that words change and that at no point am I referring to anyone with Down's Syndrome.

‘Not only am I not referring to people with Down's Syndrome I also explain that I am not associating the word with its old derogatory meaning. I also do it as part of a routine about comedians taking responsibility for everything they say. I hope this is acceptable.’

Gervais said the association did find that explanation ‘acceptable’. However, yesterday the charity’s press officer Xanthe Breen was quoted in the Sunday Herald as saying: ‘We've had a campaign to have that particular word removed from common usage.’

‘Families who live with Down's are left very upset by it. I have contacted Mr Gervais's PR company. I look forward to hearing from them.’

When contacted by Chortle today to find out whether the association did accept Gervais’s explanation or not, Breen would only say: ‘We have no comment at this time.’

Meanwhile, one member of the mental health charity MIND said on an internet forum: ‘I’m sorry but there are actual REAL issues that need sorting with regards to this [the stigma surround disability], and Ricky Gervais's comment is hardly of highest importance.

Last month, Frankie Boyle was criticised after he performed a routine about children with Down's Syndrome. Audience member Sharon Smith, whose daughter has the condition, took offence and wrote an eloquent blog about why she felt so uncomfortable with the material.

Published: 24 May 2010