Ricky Gervais pushes back on anti-trans joke criticism

Ricky Gervais responds to criticism of anti-trans jokes. (Kar-wai Tan/Getty)

Comedian Ricky Gervais has responded to criticism for his anti-trans jokes, saying he had a “right” to make such comments.

A manga from 64 years ago has been published. BBC This cultural life I was interviewed by host John Wilson. In a wide-ranging conversation, Wilson asked Gervais about his stand-up work specifically targeting disabled people, transgender people, and fat shaming.

Gervais achieved fame for writing and performing the following works: office, extra, life is too shortand afterlife. In recent years, however, he appears to have embarked on an “anti-woke” movement, for which he has been heavily criticized.

In a new interview, Wilson tells Gervais, “I feel like you haven’t changed much over time. You’ve multiplied those issues. It’s become more important to you.”

Gervais replied, “That’s probably true, but that’s because I think it’s right.”

Wilson pressed him to the point. “In what respects are you right?”

“I have a right to talk about those things,” he said. “Of course, there are jokes that I stand by. I can’t look back and say, ‘Oh, I’m sorry, I said that when I was only 50.'”

“Maybe as you become more progressive and more moderate and change, what usually happens is that what you were doing before looks worse,” he continued.

“What I do is try to be more aggressive. So I look back and think, ‘I guess I wasn’t nice at 45.'” Gervais then burst into laughter and clarified: “That was a joke.”

“I have a right to talk about those things.”

In our conversation, Gervais explained that he has no intention of reworking or rewriting his past work. He made it clear that he wanted to put trigger warnings on things, but not change the content.

Later in the episode, he was asked whether he believed he was responsible for his onstage comments. Gervais spoke out against the prevalence of his own voice on stage, saying, “I’ve seen people try to do the same thing I did and get it wrong. I don’t think it’s my fault…I don’t think it’s my problem, because all art can be misunderstood when it goes out into the world.”

Gervais 2024 tour, Ricky Gervais: Mortalitythe evaluation was low. independent person He accused her of being “completely immersed in the vortex of discourse in the Twitter world.”

Additionally, his 2022 Netflix special, Supernature, featured a 15-minute segment about transgender people and “cancel culture.”

In the act, he tried to make a joke about “old-fashioned women. They have wombs.”

“Those damn dinosaurs,” he continued. While mocking trans women, the comedian added, “I love new women. They’re great, aren’t they? These are the new women we’re seeing these days. Women with beards.”

In the same program, he declared:

“I support all human rights. Transgender rights are human rights. Live your best life. Use whatever pronouns you want.”

But he followed up that statement by adding, “But I’ll meet you halfway, guys. Just stop. That’s all I’m saying.”