Comedian Ricky Gervais recently shared some of the benefits he has reaped since attaining fame—particularly, the freedom to openly express his opinions on a global scale through his expansive platform.
“I think the bigger you are, the more you can say what you want,” the 62-year-old imparted to his viewers.
“I think we’re coming out of it now, but there’s been a good few years of ordinary people not being able to say what they want, um, and some, you know, actors and comedians and artists get in trouble, but I suppose I’m at the stage where I can ignore it and still do what and say what I want,” Mr. Gervais noted.
Pushing the Envelope
Mr. Gervais, who rose to fame as a stand-up comic in the ‘90s, is well-known for his unfiltered comedy, regularly touching upon hotly debated topics such as immigration, religion, and the transgender movement.Kicking off hosting duties for the fifth time at the 77th Golden Globe Awards—aired live on Jan. 5, 2020, from The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California—the two-time Golden Globe winner unleashed a scathing eight-minute opening monologue, criticizing the hypocrisy of many Hollywood elites and the movie industry at large.
“Many talented people of color were snubbed in major categories. Um, unfortunately, there’s nothing we can do about that. The Hollywood Foreign Press are all very, very racist,” he quipped during his speech.
“No one cares about movies anymore. No one goes to the cinema, no one really watches network TV,” he declared, adding that “most films are awful.”
Rounding out his monologue, Mr. Gervais implored the evening’s award winners not to use the platform to make political statements. “You’re in no position to lecture the public about anything. You know nothing about the real world. Most of you spent less time in school than Greta Thunberg,” he said. “So if you win, right, come up, accept your little award, thank your agent and your God ... okay?”
Speaking to his audience on X during his recent livestream, Mr. Gervais touched on the downsides of being a famous comedian, sharing his belief that not very many people know how to take a joke.
“I think people are threatened by comedians,” he asserted.
“I’ve always said this, like, politicians can stand up and say the most awful things and mean it, whereas a comedian says something and he doesn’t mean it, and it almost gets more grief. Like, people are more annoyed that you joke about terrible things than say terrible things and actually mean them,” he continued.
‘Best Job in the World’
Despite the drawbacks of cancel culture amid today’s society of political correctness, the comedian—whose recent stand-up comedy special, “Ricky Gervais: Armageddon,” debuted on Netflix in December—said he had “the best job in the world.”Last year, “The Office” actor celebrated a highlight in his career after a leg of his “Armageddon” global comedy tour garnered the Guinness World Records title for “the highest gross for a single stand-up performance,” per Guinness World Records. His sold-out show at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, California, held on May 6, grossed around $1.7 million.
The actor shared the same sentiment during his recent livestream, noting that he still hasn’t come to grips with the fact that he’s capable of selling out arenas around the world. “That is the biggest buzz for me ever, I think, because that’s, that’s rare,” he offered.
“I think the best thing about [the] last tour was breaking the record, um, at the Hollywood Bowl, so I’m very, very chuffed,” he continued. “I’m chuffed to be able to do that, and I’m chuffed at the rarity of it.”
