December 23, 2019
Ahead of Golden Globes, Ricky Gervais Defends Himself Over Tweets Deemed Transphobic
READ TIME: 2 MIN.
Comedian Ricky Gervais is coming under fire for tweets he made over the weekend that many are deeming transphobic. The controversy comes just ahead of his Golden Globes hosting gig next month.
Gervais responded to a tweet on Friday made by "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling, who showed support for a British research who was fired after sharing transphobic views (that gender cannot change). Though the writer faced backlash herself earlier last week, Gervais decided to jump into the mix by tweeting a link to a satirical article written from the "perspective" of a trans woman.
"Those awful biological women can never understand what it must be like for you becoming a lovely lady so late in life," Gervais wrote in his tweet. "They take their girly privileges for granted. Winning at female sports and having their own toilets. Well, enough is enough."
It didn't take long before a backlash ensued. One Twitter user responded to the comedian, writing, "Kindness is magic." Gervais replied by writing: "Exactly. We need to protect the rights of women. Not erode them because some men have found a new cunning way to dominate and demonize an entire sex."
He responded to another Twitter users, saying his comments are not transphobic.
"But if I've said anything transphobic you should report me," be tweeted. "Twitter has rules in place to guard against that sort of vile bigotry. My account will be closed down and you'll be proved right and will have saved millions of lives. Why aren't you doing this?"
He later went on to say his first tweet was "a joke tweet to a spoof account."
"... I have nothing against anyone looking after their mental health. Be well," Gervais added, later tweeting to another user that his first tweet "was sarcasm."
A day later, Gervais followed up his messages in another tweet.
"I fear that some people's inability to discuss sensitive or contentious issues without insult or threat will lead to society ending like a battle scene from 'Game of Thrones,' " he wrote Saturday. "Hopefully, science, truth & common sense has all the dragons."
He followed that up by firing off another tweet: "I also make jokes about AIDS, Cancer, Famine and The Holocaust. Those things do a bit of harm too. But jokes don't. Have a nice day."
It was announced in November that Gervais had once again been tapped to host the Golden Globes ceremony, which are slated for January 5. His latest controversy comes about a year after Kevin Hart had his Oscars hosting gig nixed when an online backlash ensued over homophonic tweets and jokes Hart made in his past.
