You make some interesting points, but the biggest casualty in "being offended" is comedy.
In this case it was being used in a comedic tone, as is most often the case. Some people just see the word, and not the context/back story, and assume it's offensive.
If the joke is just being rude for the sake of shocking the audience, then yes, that's cheap humor. What about satire though. There's some classic comedy that was 'offensive' to people who had no idea what the joke was.
For instance the Brasseye pedophilia special is some of the funniest, cleverest TV ever.
In this case it was being used in a comedic tone, as is most often the case. Some people just see the word, and not the context/back story, and assume it's offensive.