Frankie Boyle says he hates comedians who claim to have been 'silenced'

Frankie Boyle doesn't have any time at all for comedians who claim to have been "silenced" due to cancel culture.

Speaking at Latitude Festival over the weekend — reported via the BBC — Boyle said that his confrontational and controversial stand-up persona is an "act".

Read more: Ricky Gervais says he's trying to get cancelled with stand-up

The 49-year-old added: "I'm not one of those comedians who's like 'ooh, I've been silenced'. I hate those people.

"Any time I hear someone saying that, I always think: 'How come I can still hear you?'"

Boyle has previously criticised comedians including Ricky Gervais for making "very lazy" jokes about transgender people.

Watch: Piers Morgan vows to 'cancel cancel culture' with this talk show

As part of his set at the festival, Boyle defended people's right to be offended by jokes and suggested that his return to the Edinburgh Fringe this summer features some gags that might get him in trouble.

He told the new Prime Video show Backstage with Katherine Ryan that he has "become terrified of social media" and now often refrains from tweeting edgy jokes.

Read more: Chris O'Dowd says comedy audiences are right to be more sensitive

Boyle added: "Sean Connery died and it was like quite early in the morning when the news came in so I was one of the first people to see the news.

"I thought of tweeting: 'They've shaken him and he's not stirred'. Then I just thought 'no, I cannot'."

Boyle was in typically acerbic form on Friday night when he appeared as a guest on topical comedy show The Last Leg and delivered an acidic attack on Boris Johnson.

"You finished with a quote from The Terminator. The Terminator because you killed 150,000 f***ing people during the pandemic," said Boyle in reference to Johnson's "hasta la vista" comment in the Commons.

Read more: Roy Chubby Brown blames "woke culture" for show cancellation

The comic added: "I don’t want to sound like I’ve got a grudge or anything, but I hope a vent opens up in the ground and clawed hands drag you screaming into hell."

Boyle will debut his new solo show Lap of Shame in August at the Edinburgh Fringe.

Watch: Frankie Boyle delivers "obituary" for Boris Johnson on The Last Leg