Ricky Gervais Defends Controversial Netflix Special Amid Backlash: ‘Comedy Is For Getting Us Over Taboo Subjects So They’re Not Scary Anymore’

The first Arabic language version of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant’s British cult comedy classic The Office will air in the Middle East later this year, following a deal struck between licence holder BBC Studios and local producer-broadcaster MBC.

Ricky Gervais, 60, has appeared several times over the years as a host at the Golden Globes, and is very good at making controversial jokes about celebrities in attendance.No one is safe with Ricky around, and the comedian has successfully managed to mock some of the most famous Hollywood actors there are.Most celebs can laugh and shrug Ricky’s jibes off, but Tom Hanks was visibly unimpressed with Ricky’s jokes at the 2020 Golden Globe awards.Ricky said: “I came here in a limo tonight and the license plate was made my Felicity Huffman,” in reference to the college admissions scandal.The stony-faced reaction Tom had to the jokes became a viral meme shortly after, when a photographer at the event captured his facial expression.Comedian Ricky later spoke about the awkward situation in November 2020, chatting to Christian O’Connell on the Stuff of Legends podcast.He told Christian: “The big meme was Tom Hanks going: ‘Why is he saying that?’“And people going, ‘Oh look he’s on his high horse,’ but when Leonardo DiCaprio laughed, people loved him for it.”"I could say a lot worse things about them, but I don't want it to get really nasty and for no reason."He added: "I think people who laugh at a joke, they get a round of applause because people go, 'Oh that's good, they can take it,' we don't want people to be above it."We even let people be privileged as long as they say, 'I know I'm privileged but I'm nothing really,' we don't like people to go 'Oh I deserve it, how dare you talk to me like that'."Ahead of the awkward encounter in 2020 Ricky did admit he felt a bit regretful of a joke he made way back in 2011, about Tom and Toy Story co-tar Tim Allen.He said there was no “malice” in his joke and didn’t want Tim to feel bad

Netflix said in a new interview that he wishes to uphold the comedians’ right to “free expression” even if it means “crossing the line every once in a while”.Chappelle’s The Closer special, which aired last October, included him saying he was “tricked” into calling a trans woman beautiful as well as likening trans women to white people in blackface. He also said he sided was a “TERF”.Gervais’ new stand-up special SuperNature sees him declare that he supports trans rights while saying: “meet me halfway, ladies: lose the cock.” Rights groups have labelled his jokes as transphobic.The Chappelle special prompted LGBTQ+ Netflix employees and supporters to walk out in protest over his transphobic and homophobic jokes.

Ricky Gervais has been known to wind up some of the biggest names in showbiz.

Ricky Gervais agreed not to end Netflix smash hit After Life with a suicide over fears it would upset vulnerable viewers. In the black comedy he plays local journalist Tony Johnson, who is on the verge of killing himself after losing his wife.And experts warned if the character went through with it, fans battling ­similar trauma would be distraught.Ricky, 60, told the Daily Star Sunday: “While I was writing the show, therapists came up to me to talk about it.“One counsellor said to me, ‘Please don’t let Tony commit suicide’.

The head of Netflix is still behind two of the company’s most popular comedians.

Netflix has exclusive comedy specials with big stars like Dave Chappelle and Ricky Gervais, but the streaming service has faced backlash for working with them due to transphobic jokes included in the specials.

J. Kim Murphy Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos has offered further defense for the streamer’s curation of stand-up comedy specials from Ricky Gervais and Dave Chappelle, both of which have been criticized for including language that is considered transphobic.In an interview with Maureen Dowd at The New York Times, Sarandos reaffirmed his stance on airing the specials, saying that the way comedians figure out where the line is is by “crossing the line every once in a while.”“I think it’s very important to the American culture generally to have free expression, Sarandos told the Times.

In a wide-ranging interview published today in the New York Times, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos has doubled down on his prior defenses of artistic freedom, backing comedians Dave Chappelle and Ricky Gervais.

Ricky Gervais’ Netflix special SuperNature.Gervais has faced criticism over “transphobic” jokes in the special that was released on Tuesday (May 24), with LGBT rights organisation GLAAD describing the show as “full of graphic, dangerous, anti-trans rants masquerading as jokes”.After the special was released, a clip from Kumar’s show It’s In Your Nature To Destroy Yourself Part 2 has been widely shared on social media, where he calls out Gervais for deciding to “shit on the latest minority group”.In the clip, Kumar asks: “Guys, why is everyone so angry with trans people? What did they do? There’s like 12 of them, why is everyone so upset? Everyone’s like, do you say ‘he’ or ‘she’? I don’t know, ask. It’s not an unsolvable conundrum.“Also in my experience, trans people aren’t deliberately mysterious when they do ask.”“Why can’t we do jokes about trans people? What makes them so special?”You can.

Comedian Ricky Gervais is doubling down on the transphobic material included in his new Netflix special SuperNature. Trigger Warning: This story discusses homophobia and transphobia, which might be distressing to some readers. For 24 hour crisis support and suicide prevention call Lifeline on 13 11 14. For Australia-wide LGBTQI peer support call QLife on 1800 184 527 or webchat.Speaking with The Spectator, Gervais, 60, claimed, “My target wasn’t trans folk, but trans activist ideology.

Britain’s “The One Show.”The 60-year-old comedian appeared on the BBC chat show Tuesday where he discussed his new Netflix special “SuperNature” as well as his future “death.”Hosts Alex Jones and Jermaine Jenas asked Gervais about his genre of comedy — with him labeling it as “taboo.”After their discussion, the conversation went dark and morbid with Gervais saying: “I’m fat and old and I’m going to die soon.”Jones and Jenas were dumbfounded by the statement, with Jones correcting him by exclaiming, “No you’re not!”“I am,” Gervais insisted, adding, “I’ve brought it down haven’t I?”Jenas chimed in, “Lift it back up.” Then, Gervais replied blatantly, “Every day I’m closer to death.”“Well, we’re all a bit closer to death. Every day is a bigger percentage of the rest of your life and we don’t know what percentage that will be.

Ricky Gervais shocked the hosts of The One Show after he said he was 'going to die soon' during a chat about his new Netflix special SuperNature.

Netflix is under fire again due to jokes about the transgender community in Ricky Gervais‘ new comedy special.

Ricky Gervais’ Netflix special SuperNature.Gervais has faced criticism over “transphobic” jokes in the special that was released on Tuesday (May 24), with LGBT rights organisation GLAAD describing the show as “full of graphic, dangerous, anti-trans rants masquerading as jokes”.Since the special was released, a clip from Acaster’s show Cold Lasagne Hate Myself 1999 has been shared across social media, which targets “edgy comedians” who “slag off transgender people”.In the clip, Acaster says: “They say whatever they like, edgy comedians. No one tells them what they can and can’t say.

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Trans Defamation (GLAAD) has condemned Ricky Gervais’ new Netlfix special SuperNature, writing in a Twitter thread that his set is “full of graphic, dangerous, anti-trans rants masquerading as jokes.” The organization also noted that the comedian and star of the original, British version of The Office “spouts anti-gay rhetoric & spreads inaccurate information about HIV.” The first of the rants GLAAD are referring to begin four minutes into Gervais’ special. “Oh, women!” he exclaims at the start of the offending bit. “Not all women, I mean the old-fashioned ones.

Ricky Gervais is speaking out amid the backlash surrounding his new Netflix special, SuperNature.

Ricky Gervais has defended making jokes about “taboo subjects” following the backlash to his Netflix special SuperNature.The comedian has faced criticism over “transphobic” jokes in the special that was released on Tuesday (May 24), with LGBT rights organisation GLAAD describing the show as “full of graphic, dangerous, anti-trans rants masquerading as jokes”.Speaking on BBC’s The One Show following SuperNature’s release, Gervais echoed his comments from a recent appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.“I think that’s what comedy is for, really – to get us through stuff, and I deal in taboo subjects because I want to take the audience to a place it hasn’t been before, even for a split second,” Gervais said.“Most offence comes from when people mistake the subject of a joke with the actual target.”"I want to take the audience to a place they haven't been before." @rickygervais doesn't shy away from taboo subjects.

doubling down on his defense of “taboo comedy” amid ongoing social media outrage over a series of jokes in his new Netflix special/ “SuperNature,” which many online critics deemed transphobic.“I think that’s what comedy is for — getting us over taboo subjects so they’re not scary anymore,” the 60-year-old Emmy-winner told BBC One’s “The One Show” on Tuesday, the same day his special dropped on Netflix. “It’s like a parachute jump — it’s scary, but then you land and it’s all OK.”“So I deal with everything.

Ricky Gervais‘ for his “fucked up” new Netflix special and called him an “anti-woke trans-bash” comedian.Gervais has been criticised this week over “transphobic” jokes in his new comedy special SuperNature, in which the controversial comedian makes numerous jokes about the trans community.Oh, women,” he begins in the show. “Not all women, I mean the old-fashioned ones. The old-fashioned women, the ones with wombs.

“The new ones we’ve been seeing lately.The ones with beards and c**ks.” He then imagines a conversation with a woman who objects to sharing a bathroom with a trans woman: “They are ladies, look at their pronouns. “What about this person isn’t a lady?” He then responds: “Well, his penis.”“Full disclosure: in real life, of course, I support trans rights,” Gervais later says. “I support all human rights, and trans rights are human rights. Live your best life.