Ah, Ricky, what have you said this time?
Ricky Gervais is an English comedian, actor, writer, director and screenwriter. Star of the beloved The Office (UK), The Invention of Lying, and, more recently, Netflix's After Life, Gervais is known for his pretty controversial jokes and opinions. Whether its concerning religion or the treatment of animals, Gervais' statements frequently cause a stir on the internet.
This wasn't even his most brutal moment, keep reading for a list of some of Gervais' most controversial moments to date, and to hear more on what he recently had to say about bullfighting.
Ricky Gervais is, generally, pretty well loved.
He's a funny guy. He's given us a ton of laughs over the years in the UK's The Office, in his stand-up shows, and in movies like The Invention of Lying.Most recently, Gervais starred in Netflix's After Life.
The show was created, executive produced and directed by Gervais himself.After Life tells the story of a man struggling to cope after he loses his wife of twenty-five years to cancer.
Has anybody else seen the utterly brilliant After Life by @rickygervais? It’s superbly poignant, funny, heartbreaki… https://t.co/6HkCB6YvfE— Matt Curtis (@Matt Curtis)1554583347.0
"This is a show worth watching because the tight-rope it’s managing to walk is nothing short of astounding."
Forbes gave a pretty glowing review of the series, writing, "It’s a project that makes one want to stand up and say, 'well done, Ricky. More of that please.'"Like much of Gervais' work, though, After Life divided opinions.
After Life is so incredibly bad what is wrong with everyone? Wet eyed sentimentality with no character or plot deve… https://t.co/anIWqZVwzc— C🎃H👻A🧙🏼♀️R🧛🏼♀️L🕸I🍂E🍬 (@C🎃H👻A🧙🏼♀️R🧛🏼♀️L🕸I🍂E🍬)1552221782.0
Much of the frustration that people seem to feel about Gervais comes from the fact that he really seems to try to be controversial.
This is what I find the most tiring about Gervais’ comedy: it’s not the skill, dexterity or creativity of the joke… https://t.co/QK66G4nQSU— Ash Sarkar (@Ash Sarkar)1552376941.0
This has meant that people's opinions of him are all over the place.
He's kind to animals but makes sexist, racist and some downright cruel jokes.Here's what he's had to say about it all:
Nobody: Literally nobody: I can’t stress this enough but LITERALLY nobody: Ricky Gervais: It’s just SO hard bein… https://t.co/TLqxLQyZMY— argenis 🧛🏽♀️ 愛 (@argenis 🧛🏽♀️ 愛)1552334961.0
And, of course, he added his favorite line:
Isn’t this the only thing he has said since like 2004 https://t.co/CrVhGOAtec— Mollie Goodfellow (@Mollie Goodfellow)1552309227.0
But Gervais has certainly offended a lot of people in his time - or they've taken offence to his perfectly innocent remarks...
Here's a quick rundown of a few of the many controversial things that Ricky's said over the years.Golden Globes 2010.
Ricky Gervais has hosted the Golden Globes on several occasions. Each time he told at least one joke that went down pretty badly. In 2010, Gervais spoke about the reach of Hollywood: “Actors aren’t just loved here in Hollywood, they are loved the world over. You could be in the third world and get a glimpse of a Hollywood star and it could make you feel a little bit better. You could be a little Asian child with no possessions and no money. But you could see a picture of Angelina Jolie and you’d think, ‘Mummy!’" Yikes.It was Charlie Sheen, Hugh Hefner and Hefner's wife, Crystal Harris, that were hit at the 2011 Golden Globes.
"It's going to be a night of partying and heavy drinking – or as Charlie Sheen calls it: breakfast," Gervais joked. Later in the show, Ricky took aim at Hugh Hefner and his wife-to-be: "Talking of The Walking Dead, congratulations to Hugh Hefner, who is getting married at age 84 to 24-year-old beauty Crystal Harris. When asked why she was marrying him, she said, 'He lied about his age. He told me he was 94'. Just don't look at it when you touch it."Ricky was invited back in 2012.
This time, Gervais suggested that Madonna's song, "Like A Virgin" was at odds with her love life and made a quip about Jodie Foster, an actress who starred alongside Mel Gibson in The Beaver and who just so happens to be a lesbian: “Jodie Foster’s Beaver," he said, “I haven't seen it myself. I've spoken to a lot of guys here, they haven't seen it either".And (somehow), he was back in 2016.
This one was real bad. Gervais claimed that he would take it easy with the controversial comments that year, saying that he'd "changed". "Not as much as Bruce Jenner, obviously," he added. "She became a role model for trans people everywhere, showing great bravery in breaking down barriers and destroying stereotypes. She didn't do a lot for women drivers, but you can't do everything," referring to a car crash that Caitlyn was involved in 2015. It gets worse...Last year, Gervais' stand up comedy show, Humanity hit Netflix.
He continued his Caitlyn Jenner thread.Gervais compared identifying as trans to identifying as a chimp. Yep...
"She’s always identified as a woman. That means she’s a woman. Fine, if that’s the rules. If you feel you’re a woman, you are. I’m not a bigot who thinks having all that done is science going too far. In fact, I don’t think it’s going far enough. ’Cause I’ve always identified as a chimp, right? Well, I am a chimp. If I say I’m a chimp, I am a chimp pre-op. But don’t ever dead-name me. Don’t call me Ricky Gervais again. From now on, you call me Bobo."Gervais also refers to Jenner by her dead name, as he did at the Golden Globes.
Hi I'm trans and every tweet I've ever done is way funnier than anything Ricky gervais has ever said Its true— luigi had sex with your prom date (@luigi had sex with your prom date)1521050341.0
Trans comedian and writer, Shon Faye, criticized Gervais for his comments:
She told Indy100, "Dead-naming is such a horrifying thing to do to any trans person because it says that their true identity and their authentic self and the steps they have taken to be recognised by society more authentically can be snatched away at any time. It’s also just courtesy. If you change your name that is your name and people should respect it."Gervais is also a (very) outspoken atheist.
Have I mentioned that I don't believe in God?— Ricky Gervais (@Ricky Gervais)1373200080.0
Which is fine, we guess.
RICKY GERVAIS: I’m an atheist. god doesn’t exist. CROWD: (*doesnt laugh because there was literally no punchline*… https://t.co/bCIMqFA4Dq— Drew Landry (@Drew Landry)1546385305.0
So that's a quick list of (some of) Gervais' controversies over the years.
And, recently, Gervais has spoken out about something else.Gervais has long been standing up for animal rights.
In fact, in Humanity, Gervais says, "I'm really into anti-animal cruelty...I've been involved in many campaigns where people have signed petitions and the law has been changed. So thank-you to anyone who has ever retweeted anything to do with animal cruelty because it really makes a difference."In 2015, Gervais spoke out against hunting.
According to Elephant Journal, the post was "retweeted over 38,000 times on Twitter and was shared thousands of times across various social media sites".
He hopes to raise awareness of the horrible treatment of animals and to do what he can to put an end to it.
My post about the giraffe hunter was seen by 27 million people on Twitter & Facebook in just one day. Keep up the good work. It all helps :)— Ricky Gervais (@Ricky Gervais)1428861199.0
Ricky Gervais has hit out at matador, Morante de la Puebla.
Una Novillada con Picadores en Guillena, Sevilla, conmemora los 25 años del Debut con caballos de Morante de la Pue… https://t.co/X8wid4wqvO— Morante de La Puebla (@Morante de La Puebla)1553940047.0
Before killing the animal, Puebla wiped blood from its face.
¿Por qué el toro bravo jamás llorará de dolor durante la lidia? RT para combatir CIENTÍFICAMENTE la mentira animal… https://t.co/PBX6ewJiu1— Cultoro (@Cultoro)1557736407.0
Gervais shared his disgust at the incident on Twitter.
Dirty little psychopathic sequinned Cunt. https://t.co/x25fLrUuiW via @MailOnline— Ricky Gervais (@Ricky Gervais)1557754299.0
And the move certainly was perverse.
@MailOnline I would take a police charge and a jail sentence just to beat the living shit out of Morante de la Puebla.— Nuovo Auto (@Nuovo Auto)1557769766.0
Yesterday, Gervais posted this to his socials.
Boom! Right up the wrong 'un, you dirty little sequinned cunt. #BanBullfighting https://t.co/wtEgReBgck— Ricky Gervais (@Ricky Gervais)1558366866.0
Many stand with Gervais on this one.
@rickygervais Thats what you call Karma...thats richly deserved. This sick form of so-called 'entertainment' needs… https://t.co/GDmMeqf9QC— wendy graham (@wendy graham)1558378285.0