Lolly Adefope says she doesn’t regret ‘sarcastic’ standing ovation for Ricky Gervais

nme.com:

Ricky Gervais at the National Comedy Awards, saying she “doesn’t regret it”.The comedian attended the awards ceremony at London’s Roundhouse last February, where her show Ghosts was nominated for Best Scripted Comedy.It lost out to Gervais’ Netflix comedy-drama After Life, and while Gervais was not there in person to receive the award, Adefope gave a mock standing ovation for the comedian, which many interpreted to be a critique of the show and of Gervais himself.In a new interview with The Guardian, Adefope has spoken about the event, responding to reports that she had been “outraged” at the award.“’Outraged’ – it’s always like I’m ‘raging’ at something, like I’m lecturing someone, like I’m really angry, rather than just being silly,” she said.“I don’t regret making the joke.

I’m not saying it’s easier for me, but I don’t have the same fear that a white person might have, which definitely holds people back from saying things.”“There’s the fear of humiliation, or cancellation or being seen as wrong or prejudiced,” she continued. “Maybe this is too hopeful, but I feel like we’re kind of past that fear of cancellation now?

We’re more willing to let people try. I don’t think the internet is the place to try to resolve things, but I’d prefer to say that I tried?”Reflecting on whether she might have reacted differently to Gervais’ success ten years ago, she speculated that she might have tried to get Netflix to remove the special.“Or maybe I’d have tried to convince everyone else how bad they were, and everything would be fine.

But now I know, there’s always going to be an audience for that kind of comedy. So, it’s definitely more productive to just make more good stuff, encourage more people to write their own stories, so.