Ricky Gervais has strongly denied rumours he was snubbed by Caitlyn Jenner at the National Television Awards.
The celebrities crossed paths at the awards show in London yesterday, January 28, though there have been conflicting accounts about what exactly what went down between them.
Roman Kemp, Caitlyn’s I’m A Celebrity campmate, initially sparked rumours about a hostile interaction between the pair while speaking on his Capital Breakfast radio show this morning.
While recalling the event, Kemp made reference to Gervais’s 2018 Netflix comedy special Humanity, in which the comedian repeatedly ‘dead names’ Jenner by referring to her as ‘Bruce’. The comedian also caused controversy by mocking the star in his 2016 Golden Globes opening monologue.
The radio host implied these kinds of jokes did not go down well with the reality TV star, saying:
The entirety of the Humanity Tour is basically ongoing gags about Caitlyn Jenner, and let me tell you, Caitlyn ain’t a fan of Ricky Gervais.
With this in mind, Kemp went on to describe how Jenner apparently snubbed the comedian by shutting down his warm welcome.
Hear Kemp recall the interaction here:
According to Kemp, Gervais offered his hand to Jenner and said it was ‘so lovely’ to meet her, but the I’m A Celeb star responded by ‘looking out of the corner of her eyes’ and simply saying, ‘yeah’.
The exchange certainly sounds cold, but Gervais has since denied it ever happened.
The 58-year-old took to Twitter this afternoon to tell his side of the story, while claiming Kemp’s account was ‘absolutely false’.
Gervais wrote:
She was lovely and gracious. She said she loved my Golden Globes monologue & I said I loved her stint in I’m a Celebrity. And that was it. No snubbing. No awkwardness. No rudeness.
The comedian’s partner, Jane Fallon, backed Gervais and said the radio host was lying about the exchange that took place – even if Jenner had later expressed contempt towards the comedian to Kemp.
She wrote in a series of tweets:
I was standing right there. Roman Kemp was in a conversation with someone else. I heard exactly what Caitlin said about the Globes. I’m so f*cking sick of people just making sh*t up.
Even if she didn’t mean it. Even if she turned straight round to @romankemp & said ‘I can’t stand that guy’ his reporting of the actual conversation that took place is a complete lie & totally disingenuous
Kemp has not responded to the accusations, though it’s possible he simply misinterpreted what he saw, or that he only witnessed a small part of the interaction.
Jenner, who presented the award for Best Challenge Show, has not commented on the exchange.
Though Gervais has previously received backlash for his jokes about Jenner, the 58-year-old has insisted he stands by his comedy and that he is not transphobic. While discussing the subject in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, he described offence as ‘the collateral damage of free speech’.
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.