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Ricky Gervais Claiming that working-class people are the only group comedians can joke about without facing backlash.
star, created groundbreaking sitcom officeIt was also revealed that he no longer makes jokes at the expense of vulnerable people – something he would do differently if he could go back in time.
Gervais reflects on the state of comedy in upcoming Channel 4 show this cultural lifesaid: “People understand most power struggles. They understand why racism, homophobia and misogyny are wrong, but they have a great disdain for the working class.”
comedian“That’s one thing that seems to take Mickey out of the backlash now,” he said, who was raised by working-class parents in Reading.
Gervais also said that as times change, he will avoid making fun of vulnerable groups, but said he had no regrets.
“You’re a product of your time and you really created things for the people of your time. I’ll put trigger warnings on things, but I’m not going to go back and change things.”
“Do I regret anything? No. Would I do anything differently now? Probably.”
Gervais’ new stand-up show, diewill be Netflix Three years later on Tuesday (December 30) he faces backlash Making fun of transgender people in streaming service’s special title supernatural.
LGBTQ+ advocacy group GLAAD calls out his comments “Dangerous anti-trans rhetoric disguised as a joke.”
The comedian has defended his right to joke about “taboo subjects” after causing an uproar, arguing comedy should make viewers uncomfortable.
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“I want to take the audience to a place they’ve never been before, even if it’s just for a moment,” he told The One Show.
“Most offense occurs because people confuse the subject of the joke with the actual target. So initially, they ask, ‘What would he say?’ and I tell the joke. Phew. They laugh.”
He continued: “It’s like skydiving. It’s scary, but once you land it’s okay. I think that’s what comedy is about, for us to get over taboo topics. They’re not scary anymore. So I deal with everything.”
In May 2025, Gervais received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and declared it a victory over cancel culture.
“We had a couple of years of weird cancel culture – people telling you what to laugh about and what not to laugh about or what to talk about – but we put it off and we won until the next time,” he told the crowd gathered on the streets of Los Angeles.