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Ricky Gervais. (Getty)
Ricky Gervais has defended his proper to joke about “taboo” matters like trans girls and AIDS as his Netflix particular continues to attract warmth.
The British comic has confronted recent criticism over his over-reliance on anti-trans jokes after his present Ricky Gervais: Supernature dropped Tuesday (24 Might).
The particular had little to do with the supernatural and as a substitute noticed the 60-year-old make repeated punch-downs towards trans girls and make gentle of the AIDS epidemic.
GLAAD, an American LGBTQ+ media watchdog, decried Gervais’ jokes as nothing greater than “graphic, harmful, anti-trans rants” in an announcement.
However Gervais disregarded the backlash, telling BBC One’s The One Present that comedy is about “getting us over taboo topics”.
Ricky Gervais: ‘These are simply jokes’
“I believe that’s what comedy is for, – to get us by means of stuff, and I deal in taboo topics as a result of I wish to take the viewers to a spot it hasn’t been earlier than, even for a cut up second,” he instructed hosts Jermaine Jenas and Alex Jones on Tuesday.
“Most offence comes from when folks mistake the topic of a joke with the precise goal.
“It begins and so they go, what’s he going to say? I inform the joke. Phew, they snort.”
“It’s like a parachute bounce,” Ricky Gervais added, “it’s scary, however then you definitely land and it’s all OK. I believe that’s what comedy is for – getting us over taboo topics so that they’re not scary anymore.
“So I take care of all the pieces. And I believe we second guess the viewers an excessive amount of.”
“These are simply jokes,” he continued, “they don’t imply something. They’re simply so that you can snort for an hour or so. So, that’s why ideally taboo topics.”
Gervais spent the primary quarter-hour of Supernature digging at trans girls, whom he mentioned will not be “old school girls … those with wombs”.
“No, I really like the brand new girls. They’re nice, aren’t they?” he says. “The brand new ones we’ve been seeing recently. Those with beards and c**ks.”
He additionally conflated trans girls with rapists, joked he was going to transition to “Vicky Gervais” and known as on trans girls to “lose their c**ks”.
On the AIDS epidemic, he mentioned the illness was “in its heyday, f***ing superb” earlier than joking that God despatched AIDS to “Africa” as a result of “they’re dying anyway”.
Whereas Gervais burdened within the set that his jokes are “ironic”, LGBTQ+ teams resembling GLAAD disagreed. Particularly because the programme got here months after Dave Chapelle’s Netflix particular was slammed when the comedian resorted to anti-trans jokes.
GLAAD slammed Gervais for joking concerning the AIDS epidemic: “He additionally spouts anti-gay rhetoric and spreads inaccurate details about HIV.”
“Consideration Ricky and Netflix: folks dwelling with HIV right this moment, when on efficient therapy, lead lengthy and wholesome lives and can’t transmit HIV to others. U=U.”
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