NBCRicky Gervais has caused outrage at the Golden Globes, once again, by joking about Caitlyn Jenner.
The infamous British comedian, who has hosted the Globes three times before, began joking about the transgender star almost immediately after walking on stage and people have accused him of being ‘bigoted’.
In his opening monologue, he joked: “I’ve changed. Well, not as much as Bruce Jenner, obviously – now Caitlyn Jenner, of course”.
The Office star then added:
What a year she’s had. 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.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnIGdb-sT-s
Rather unsurprisingly, the jokes didn’t go down well with those watching at home and many fans took to Twitter to criticise Gervais’ comments.
Ricky Gervais toeing the line towards transphobia with a strange mention of Caitlyn Jenner #GoldenGlobes
— Hanna Solo (@HannaSolo_MN) January 11, 2016
Can Ricky Gervais stop it with the transphobia
— Jervic (@jervicp) January 11, 2016
Transphobia, isn’t it hilarious? – 75% of Ricky Gervais’s material tonight. Disgusting, and worse: unfunny.
— Manuel Betancourt (@bmanuel) January 11, 2016
However not everyone was offended by the joke.
https://twitter.com/elliotmbyrne/status/686352765589794817
Ricky Gervais just made a Caitlyn Jenner joke and it wasn't offensive and it was hilarious. Well. Done.
— Sarah Duffy (@sarahanneduff) January 11, 2016
ricky gervais was hilarious at the #GoldenGlobes queue the media trying to create some faux controversy
— Comrade Maxwell (@1999_adam) January 11, 2016
Before the show, Gervais tweeted a picture of himself in the bath, saying: “Better get dressed and offend some humourless cunts I suppose.”
Better get dressed and offend some humourless cunts I suppose. pic.twitter.com/X4idHHuMMf
— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) January 10, 2016
Gervais pulled no punches in his controversial opening monologue, despite saying, “I’ll try and be nice,” ripping into a number of celebs including Jennifer Lawrence, Roman Polanki and Adam Sandler, whose recent film Pixels he joked was less funny than Schindler’s List.
The comedian also quipped that he’d have to go into hiding after the awards and said, “Not even Sean Penn will find me,” referring to the actor’s recent Rolling Stone article about interviewing the notorious Mexican drug kingpin, El Chapo.
Later in the show when Mel Gibson appeared to introduce the Best Picture nominee Mad Max: Fury Road, Gervais wasn’t afraid to bring up the contentious star’s infamous anti-Semitic remarks.
He snarked:
I want to say something nice about Mel, before he comes out. Um… so, oh yeah, okay. Here we go, I’d rather have a drink with him in his hotel room than Bill Cosby.
The audience, for the most part, seemed to see the funny side in Gervais’ jokes, laughing all the way through his barbed opening monologue, and Gervais wasn’t afraid to make fun of himself either. At one point he noted that he had three golden globes and implied that he “shoved them up his arse”.
What did you think of Gervais’ performance? Did it go too far?
More of a concept than a journalist, Tom Percival was forged in the bowels of Salford University from which he emerged grasping a Masters in journalism.
Since then his rise has been described by himself as ‘meteoric’ rising to the esteemed rank of Social Editor at UNILAD as well as working at the BBC, Manchester Evening News, and ITV.
He credits his success to three core techniques, name repetition, personality mirroring, and never breaking off a handshake.