How IS Ricky Gervais still Hollywood's golden boy? Comic who 'WANTS to get cancelled' wins Golden Globe despite backlash over mocking terminally ill children and angering Tinseltown with his brutal putdowns
Ricky Gervais has made history with his latest accolade, winning the first Golden Globe in new category Best Performance in Stand-Up Comedy on Television.
The British comedian, 62, previously insisted he had no chance of winning, but triumphed over Trevor Noah (Where Was I); Chris Rock (Selective Outrage); Amy Schumer (Emergency Contact); Sarah Silverman (Someone You Love) and Wanda Sykes (I’m An Entertainer).
He did not attend the ceremony in Beverly Hills on Sunday night, with comic Jim Gaffigan accepting the award for Ricky's Netflix special Armageddon on his behalf.
While Ricky is no stranger to a Hollywood accolade and has previously won three Golden Globes for his work on The Office and Extras, his latest win no doubt raised eyebrows among his fellow celebrities.
Not only has the comic angered several stars by branding Hollywood 'disgusting, pill-popping, sexually deviant scum', but he has come under fire for his Armageddon special, in which he cracks jokes about terminally ill children.
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Prior to the ceremony, Ricky told his followers on X, formerly Twitter: 'I'm nominated for another Golden Globe tonight. This time for my Netflix special Armageddon. Won't win, but it's nice to still be up there in the mix, flying the flag.'
After his shock victory, he shared a selfie with his cat at home in London as he explained his absence from the American awards show.
He penned: 'Thank you so much for all your lovely comments & kind words about my Golden Globe win. Best fans in the world. I’m playing a 200 seater tonight in King’s Cross doing new material. The glamour. Have a great day!'
While he was congratulated by many followers, he also wasn't without criticism.
Among those who have hit out at the comic for his jokes is British disability charity Scope.
During the Netflix special, Ricky pokes fun at Make-A-Wish requests, saying: 'I always say yes [to their requests]. And I always start the video the same way. I go "why didn't you wish to get better? What, you f***ing retarded as well?"'
Scope warned that 'language like this has consequences', stating: 'We wish we were surprised by reports that Ricky Gervais has used ableist slurs in his new Netflix special.
'Language like this has consequences and we're just not accepting the explanation that Gervais uses to try and justify this language.'
'He argues that he wouldn't use this language in "real-life". But his stand-up routine doesn't exist in a parallel universe. The stage is real. Netflix is real. The people this kind of language impacts are real.'
Sess Cova, a mother who says her child Katy 'bravely battled cancer', also launched a petition urging Netflix to remove the 'offensive skit from its platform'. It has since received more than 5,000 signatures.
Yet Ricky was unfazed by the backlash, saying of the petition: 'Good luck. That's what I say to them. Good luck. I'll even retweet it'.
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The After Life star previously revealed he wants to get 'cancelled' and is determined to turn up the shock-factor, even if it has a negative impact on is long-term career prospects.
He told Heat: 'One thing I've decided to definitely do, and can't wait to start on, is my new stand-up show, which is going to be called Armageddon.
'I'm treating it like it's my last one ever. It won't be, but I want to put everything into it. I want to try and get cancelled. No, I just want to go all-out there.
'It's about the end of the world and how we're going to destroy ourselves for lots of reasons, whether it's media stupidity, or the actual end of the world.'
Ricky is no stranger to backlash over his jokes.
In 2021, the comedian hit back at critics after Twitter's 'woke brigade' turned on Ricky for mocking cancel culture with jokes about transgender people, Adolf Hitler and AIDS in his SuperNature Netflix special.
He kicked off the show with a warning about irony as he described the concept of comedy to the audience as 'basically a bloke talking', before purposely failing to recall any 'funny female comedians'.
In SuperNature, Ricky wasted no time singling out the 'virtue-signalling' and 'dominant mobs' who are quick to criticise just to 'bring people down to raise their own status'.
But his jokes were later described as 'dangerous' material by an American LGBT rights group, while Stonewall accused him of 'making fun of trans people'.
In response, Ricky told The Spectator at the time: 'My target wasn't trans folk, but trans activist ideology. I've always confronted dogma that oppresses people and limits freedom of expression.'
Ricky also caused a stir when he weighed in on the infamous Oscars slapgate, saying he thought Chris Rock's joke about Jada Pinkett Smith's alopecia was 'tame'.
'Someone said it was joking about her [Jada's] disability. Well I'm going a bit thin, so I'm disabled. That means I can park right up next to Tescos now,' he quipped, adding: 'I'm fat, that's a disease. I'm fat and balding, I should get f***ing benefits.'
Ricky has also been slammed for uttering the N-word.
A 2011 clip from HBO's Talking Funny special resurfaced seven years later and quickly went viral as it showed the comedian sitting with Louis CK, Chris Rock and Jerry Seinfield as they discussed the use of the word n****r in comedy.
Ricky laughed as Chris and Louis repeatedly used the slur while Jerry watched on uncomfortably and said he wouldn't use the term anywhere.
He then threw around the slur while attempting to claim he doesn't use it, joking: 'Who says n****r on stage? We don't,' referring to himself and Jerry, who was quick to point out: 'You just did.'
The resurfaced footage sparked outrage on social media as users blasted Ricky for using the slur with 'glee'.
Ricky has also got the backs up of many of his fellow celebrities after roasting them he hosted the Golden Globes in in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2016, and 2020.
During his appearances, Ricky skewered 'woke' Hollywood, made jokes about Jeffrey Epstein, Harvey Weinstein and Prince Andrew, and tackled topics such as MeToo and ISIS that left his A-list audience wincing.
Tom Hanks, Robert De Niro, and Gwyneth Paltrow were left with stunned looks on their faces after the actor mocked Felicity Huffman over the college admission scandal in 2020.
He also branded James Corden a 'massive p***y' and ripped Judi Dench for 'licking' her own private parts in his eight-minute speech.
In one blunt moment, he advised those receiving awards to avoid making political speeches because 'you're in no position to the public about anything', adding: 'If you win, come up, accept your little award, thank your agent, and your God and f*** off.'
The comic underlined his point by jesting: 'You say you're woke but the companies you work for in China — unbelievable. Apple, Amazon, Disney. If ISIS started a streaming service you'd call your agent, wouldn't you?'
Ricky went on to say that the reception to his jokes changed over the years, saying initially people hated when he hurled abuse at the rich and famous but the public soon 'became tired' of celebrities.
The Office creator said: 'The first time I did it, 10 years ago, everyone was like, "Ah, how can you talk to these wonderful multi-millionaires, how can you talk to these beautiful people, like that? We love celebrities."'
'By the last one it was like, "God, give it to them, we hate celebrities!"'
After his last hosting stint, Ricky explained the thought process behind his roasts, reasoning: 'Do I pander to the 200 egos in the room or the 200 million people watching around the world? And there's no contest.
'I know what I'm going to say. I'm not there to ruin their night, I'm there to make the people at home laugh.
'You've got to write seven minutes of your best jokes, you can't really use them again. It's a lot of work for seven minutes, but the payoff is amazing. I mean, there's no audience like that.'
An unrepentant Ricky went on to hit back at criticism levelled at him over his speech, saying he was playing a 'brash character' in his role as host.
He explained: 'People know David Brent and Tony are characters.
'They don't know that me doing standup and me at the Golden Globes is a bit of a persona as well. There I play this brash character who's come to ruin the liberal elites' night.
'I've honed those jokes. I've made those jokes bulletproof.'
Yet Hollywood can rest easy for now as Ricky revealed he doesn't want to host the show again.
He explained: 'It could be the Golden Globes could offer me £10m for 10 minutes work, you know, and I’d be an idiot, I’d be a liar, to say I wouldn’t consider it.
'But at the moment, given I’ve done it five times, it got better and better for me – I enjoyed them all, but it got better – and I’m planning never to do it again.
'I’ve asked them not to ask me because I can be persuaded, that’s true. You know, it’s not a principle.'
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