SerpApi.Org
Ricky Gervais doesn’t care if he offends people — and he’s not going to apologize about it.
During a recent appearance on BBC Radio 2, host Romesh Ranganathan asked Gervais a question submitted by a listener: “You’re always telling people to not be offended, but is there anything that you’ve been secretly offended by?”
The Office creator replied, “I’m offended all the time. I don’t tell people not to be offended; I tell them I don’t care if they are. Be offended if you want, it makes it funnier for me.”
He clarified, “You can’t help what you’re offended by, but don’t expect me to care, is what I say.”
However, Gervais is keen to point out that his reputation for actively wanting to offend people isn’t accurate.
“It’s a myth that I go out to offend. I never go out to offend,” he explained. “I just know that it’s probably gonna happen, because everyone’s different. There’s nothing you can say, particularly anything that’s mildly interesting or contentious or your viewpoint, that someone, somewhere won’t find offensive.”
He also said he felt compelled to address cancel culture in his latest comedy because it had become too relevant to his work to ignore.
“I think the last couple of tours, I have dealt with cancel culture and free speech, because I felt I had to,” he said. “Now I don’t have to anymore. I’m ignoring it all. I shouldn’t even bring it into the room.”
For Gervais, there’s a difference between his audience — those who actually come out to see him live — and casual viewers.
“Those people there who have paid hundreds of pounds, they’re not offended,” he said. “I can play to a million people, not one complaint. As soon as it goes on Netflix, 50 million people, course there’s gonna be someone who doesn’t like it! What am I gonna do? It’s too late. I’ve been paid.”
The comedian often gets called out for “offensive” jokes, not just by members of the public but also by major organizations. Circa 2022, GLAAD said the following about his Netflix special: “It’s full of graphic, dangerous, anti-trans rants masquerading as jokes. He also spouts anti-gay rhetoric and spreads inaccurate information about HIV,” as reported by BBC News.
At the time, Gervais defended himself, saying, “I think that’s what comedy is for, really — to get us through stuff, and I deal in taboo subjects because I want to take the audience to a place it hasn’t been before, even for a split second. Most offence comes from when people mistake the subject of a joke with the actual target.”
He added, “I think that’s what comedy is for — getting us over taboo subjects so they’re not scary anymore. So I deal with everything. And I think we second-guess the audience too much.”
Commenting on a TikTok clip of Gervais’ interview with Ranganathan, one person wrote, “This is the same Ricky Gervais that vanity searches his own name on Twitter and blocks everyone (literally everyone) who criticises him.”
“Is he not bored of saying the same thing over and over and over again?” another person wondered.
