Yesterday, the comedian Jim Davidson was arrested by police working for Operation Yewtree, the investigation set up in the wake of the Jimmy Savile sex scandal.

Discussion about his arrest has been rife on social media sites such as Twitter, with fellow comedian Frankie Boyle remarking “On the bright side for Jim Davidson, it's impossible for anyone to think any less of him.”

By Boyle’s standards, it was a pretty tame comment; elsewhere the general consensus seems to be a lack of shock regarding the news. Davidson is very much considered to hail from the old school of comedy – where misogyny and bigotry were often rife and he is hardly held as a beacon of morality or decent behaviour. One comment, repeated in varying forms on Twitter, is exemplified by the user @Skip_Licker, who commented “I'm shocked by this Jim Davidson story... to my core. He's being described as a comic.”

It was thought that Jim Davidson would be one of the celebrities entering the Celebrity Big Brother house this week. However, The Telegraph have reported that he will “no longer be taking part,” even though he “vigorously denies” the allegations that have been made against him. Davidson has not been charged with any offence, as yet and the allegations made against him are not connected to the allegations made against Jimmy Savile.