If I said "I fucking hate black people living in Acton, they should all be killed" - what would your reaction be?
And then my defence afterwards was:
"Oh I'm actually quoting from a ten year old TV show where someone talked about Acton. I'm not really saying that myself."
I actually got the Alan Partridge reference - but I'm sure there are others who didnt.
You cant just assume everyone will get every cultural reference.
cf. the recent example of ed scoble saying he'd punch a woman in the kidneys for pushing through a toilet queue, and then saying afterwards he was only just jokingly referring to something posted elsewhere in this forum. I hadnt read the original post and just thought the guy is a violent misogynist.
^this
*see Stuart Lee TopGear sketch