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Ricky Gervais: “I’m not sorry”

"They hired me for a job and if they didn't want me, they shouldn't have hired me," says a defiant Ricky Gervais.

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“I’m sorry if they were offended but I’m not sorry for anything I said. They hired me for a job and if they didn’t want me, they shouldn’t have hired me,” Ricky Gervais said of his now-controversial Golden Globes hosting.

The UK comedian was speaking to CNN’s latest recruit, Piers Morgan.

“Just because you’re offended does not mean you’re in the right. A lot of people are offended by mixed marriages – it doesn’t mean they are right,”

“I’m not going to apologise for being true to myself. My strategy is to make me laugh. If there’s anyone in the world like me, that’s a bonus.”

When asked if he was mocking the exploits of people like Charlie Sheen he  told Morgan the gags were based on incidents that were on the public record.

“I’m not judging them for what they did,” he insisted.

“I’m confronting the elephant in the room. Like, I’m going to go out there and not talk about the issues in their industry?

“Don’t forget, I’ve got to be an outsider there. I mustn’t come out there as everyone’s mate and schmooze – that’s nauseating. I’ve got to come out there, and I’ve got to roast them.”

Meanwhile of The Office without Steve Carrell he said, “[The show] can survive. Whether it should or not, I don’t know.”

Gervais recently confirmed he would make a cameo appearance on the US show.

31 Responses

  1. Funny, last time i looked, it was a free country and everybody’s point of view was equally valid. Always interesting to see how differing views are treated by a pack mentality. To each his own. You want your own view respected? Respect others.

  6. Good on Gervais, especially for mocking Sheen, where were/are the moral brigade telling comedians to lay off Lindsay Lohan or Brittany Spears etc during there times of misadventure. Why is Charlie Sheen a protected species, why is Sheen considered a lovable rogue and the women are not (even Robert Downey Jnr copped more jokes and ridicule going back).

  9. I love Gervais but he was ill-judgedly too mean in some cases – eg. Tim Allen. The scientology joke is as old as the hills and made many other times about the two prime suspects involved.

    And there’s an element for me of ‘who does this guy think he is’? – he’s trashing some people significantly more famous and successful than him, and it doesn’t reflect well.

  10. He was brilliant. He has nothing to apologise for. Apart from the word ‘Scientologist’, that joke had nothing to do with Scientology itself. The rest of what he said was hilarious and absolutely spot on. I suspect the outrage is a result of either bruised egos or an attempt by the HFPA for publicity. Rich people, eh?

  12. Er…dave, his appearance on CNN was announced around the day of the awards. I think it’s fairly common practice for host’s of events to make follow up appearances on talkshows, current events programs etc after the event…and it’s hardly his fault if the people doing the interviewing are constantly asking him about the globes. I doubt they’re getting him on their shows to ask him what he had for breakfast so what else is he gonna talk about?
    With the amount of exposure the golden globes received, I’m sure Ricky will do just fine…

  13. Am I the only one who doesn’t get what the fuss is all about? Last year he made similar jokes based on similar events, directed at the likes of Mel Gibson. Obviously this is what he does – if they hired him again, you’d expect more of the same, right? I did – and that is what he delivered as far as I can see. I just don’t see what the big deal is this time around!

  15. I thought he was hilarious and true to himself. Good on him! The world needs more people who tell it like it is. Too many people try to suck up and say what other people want to hear.

    And to be honest its not like the producers didn’t know what he was going to say. There would have been rehearsals and everything he said would have been approved by someone so if they thought it was that offensive they would have asked him to tone it down or they would have hired someone else.

  17. He is in damage control – why else continue to do press on his performance after the event? He doth protest too much!. He did offend, and it has damaged brand Gervais – otherwise he would just retreat and move on. Not funny, not charming.

  20. Just from what I saw on the news and other shows he was funny. The Charlie Sheen joke was hilarious. The scientology one I thought may have gone a bit far and The tourist one I didnt really care about.

    Piers was on Letterman last night and said they should get him to host the oscars for 5 hours.

  21. Good on him for not backing down, the world and Hollywood has become to politically correct in recent years not wanting to offend anyone. Like Ricky said it’s all on public record and if they can’t take the jokes then they shouldn’t be acting that way in the first place.

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