Bill Bailey serves blistering Prince Andrew joke amid US sex abuse case

Bill Bailey didn’t hold back when he cracked a Prince Andrew joke this week, amid an ongoing case involving the Duke in the US.

It was claimed earlier this week Prince Andrew will be kept away from all Platinum Jubilee events next year as they could clash with the US case. Meanwhile, earlier this month, a Met Police investigation into Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein was dropped with ‘no further action’ to be taken.

Hosting Have I Got News For You on Friday, Bill was speaking with comedian Fin Taylor about the Queen pulling out of hosting leaders at the COP26 climate conference in Glasgow when talk quickly turned to Andrew.

Taylor said: ‘I’ll tell you who’s done a lot to reduce their carbon footprint: Prince Andrew; he hasn’t left the house for months. Good on him.’

Bailey responded: ‘Andrew’s not going ’cause the word “COP” is in the title.’

Met officers previously confirmed that they were no longer looking into sexual abuse allegations made by Virginia Giuffre as part of a US civil lawsuit against the Queen’s son.

Met police confirmed they were not looking into abuse allegations (Picture: Steve Parsons – WPA Pool/Getty Images)

She claims she was trafficked by Epstein, the duke’s former friend, to have sex with Andrew in London when she was aged 17 and a minor under US law.

The Duke has denied all allegations.

Elsewhere in the BBC programme last night, the panel’s attention turned to Facebook, and how the whistleblower Frances Haugen has alleged how it operates.

Paul Merton explained: ‘It promotes hate speech to those who are interested in hate speech points them towards sites which are misogynistic, homophobic etc.’

Strictly winner Bailey went on to say: ‘What it does is it takes people who have mainstream interests, and it pushes them to extreme content …. so you could start off looking at Little Mix or something and the next minute you’re looking at Slipknot.’

Referring to the whistleblower’s allegations, Ian Hislop added: ‘Facebook was told to clean up these sites that attracted children and the executives wandered round saying “oh don’t do that that doesn’t make us any money”. Essentially Facebook is doing what everyone assumed it was doing anyway which is basically amplifying toxic dribble.’

More: BBC

Facebook has gone on to unveil the Metaverse this week, which Bailed defined for the panel: ‘I know it’s difficult to explain but there’s is a certain agreed definition which is: VR on acid.’

Hislop responded: ‘So you don’t live in the real world anymore, you just live inside the screen,’ Merton waved to the camera, ‘a bit like us’.

Have I Got News For You returns Friday 9pm on BBC.

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