Dane Cook makes light of Colorado shooting, gets flak

BOSTON (WHDH) -- Cambridge comedian Dane Cook has been accused of crossing the line after cracking a joke about the movie massacre that claimed 12 lives and injured 58 people.

Groans followed by laughter; the crowd at the Laugh Factory in Los Angeles appeared unsure how to respond to an off-color joke made by the comedian.

During Thursday night's act, Cook made light of last week's massacre in Colorado.

“I’m pretty sure that somebody in that theater, about 25 minutes in, realizing it was a piece of [expletive], was probably like, 'ugh [expletive] shoot me,’” Cook said during his act.

In Boston, Dane Cook's hometown, no one's laughing.

“No. No one should be joking about it,” one woman said.

“I think making jokes of that is inappropriate,” one man said.

Comics making light of tragedies is nothing new -- they often say no topic is off-limits.

“A comedian kind of has a right to say whatever they want, however tactless and unfortunate,” said Brendan McGowen.

Some speculated Cook's joke was calculated, to get himself back in the spotlight.

“Why else would he do it? He’s realizing he's not as funny as he used to be, and people are realizing he’s not as funny as he used to be so he just makes inappropriate comments to get attention,” said Savannah Cole.

It’s only been one week since the shooting that killed 12 and injured 58. Most people believe it's way too soon for jokes.

“It never would be okay as far as I’m concerned,” one man said.

Friday evening, Cook tweeted an apology saying, "I am devastated by the recent tragedy in Colorado and did not mean to make light of what happened. I made a bad judgment call with my material last night & regret making a joke at such a sensitive time. My heart goes out to all of the families & friends of the victims."