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Ricky Gervais Hits back at critics in his new work Netflix special diereleased on Tuesday (December 30).
comedian and co-creator office, 64. The stand-up performance was filmed on site London Palladium Earlier this year, he took the opportunity to call out what he called “the middle class” and “elitism” criticism of his work.
He told the crowd: “It’s great to hear that laughter again because you might not notice it as much as comedians do, but we’ve had a really weird decade and we’re really second-[guessing jokes].
“People find anything offensive, but we fought back and we won. So screw them. Until next time. They’re not gone yet. They’re just licking their wounds. They’ll come back with crazier stuff. But remember who’s next time? Right?
“It’s always these educated, middle-class, privileged, elitist people telling the average working class person what they can and can’t do, making jokes, without realizing how important comedy is to ordinary people.”
Gervais made the remarks after the 2022 stand-up special supernatural Condemned for jokes targeting trans people.
The following year, his 2023 special end of the world has sparked a petition calling on Netflix to cut content about young people suffering from cancer.
Comedian Nishi Kumar has previously Slammed Gervais during 2019 stand-up showsaid: “F*** Ricky Gervais. F*** Ricky Gervais. What he’s doing is not edgy or funny… He’s like every other rich white comedian who’s too successful and unoriginal to decide to troll the latest minority group.”
Gervais admitted that his fellow comedians criticized him for being “suppressive,” saying on his new show: “They always fail. I’m too old now to say what I want to say. I’ve always wanted to say and do what I want to do. I want to do what I love best.”
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His new special is likely to attract similar criticism, with the comedian covering topics including disability, pedophilia, racism and child killers.
Gervais said at one point in the show that while he considered himself an anti-racist, he acknowledged that he might have been a slave owner in another century.
He joked: “I’m willing to admit that if I were born 300 years ago and I was white and rich, I probably would have owned slaves. I would have been nice to them, so shut up, right? Yeah, I would have been the best slave owner. I would have dressed them up. I would! In a little suit.”
Gervais said he would “have banter” with his slaves, meaning joking, but added that if a man became too familiar he would have to “punish” him.