Hafetz Haim Halachot
Halacha 63 / 215

Hilchos Lashon Hara, chapter 3, section 3

The prohibition of lashon hara applies even when the speaker does not speak out of hatred and does not mean to put the other person down, but is only joking around without thinking.

Even then – since the words put the person down, it is forbidden by the Torah.