British actor-comedian Ricky Gervais
has responded to outrage over jokes he makes in his new Netflix
comedy special.
GLAAD has labeled the jokes in Gervais'
SuperNature as “anti-trans” and “dangerous.”
“We watched the Ricky Gervais
'comedy' special on Netflix so you don't have to,” GLAAD said in a
tweet. “It's full of graphic, dangerous, anti-trans rants
masquerading as jokes. He also spouts anti-gay rhetoric & spreads
inaccurate information about HIV.”
“Netflix has a policy that content
'designed to incite hate or violence' is not allowed on their
platform, but we all know that anti-LGBTQ content does exactly that.
While Netflix is home to some groundbreaking LGBTQ shows, it refuses
to enforce its own policy in comedy.”
“Comedians who spew hate in place of
humor, and the media companies who give them a platform, will be held
accountable. Meanwhile, there are PLENTY of funny LGBTQ comedians to
support,” the group added.
Speaking with the BBC, Gervais
responded to the criticism, saying that comedy is a way of getting
“us over taboo subjects.”
“I think that's what comedy is for,
really – to get us through stuff,” he said. “And I deal in
taboo subjects because I want to take the audience to a place it
hasn't been before, even for a split second. Most offense comes from
when people mistake the subject of a joke with the actual target.”
In SuperNature, Gervais says
that he loves “the new women.” “They're great, aren't they? The
new ones we've been seeing lately. The ones with beards and cocks.
They’re as good as gold, I love them. And now the old-fashioned
ones say, ‘Oh, they want to use our toilets.’ ‘Why shouldn’t
they use your toilets?’ ‘For ladies!’ ‘They are ladies –
look at their pronouns! What about this person isn’t a lady?’
‘Well, his penis.’ ‘Her penis, you fucking bigot!’ ‘What if
he rapes me?’ ‘What if she rapes you, you fucking TERF
[Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist] whore?’”
Later in the stand-up special, Gervais
insists that he's not opposed to transgender women. “Full
disclosure, In real life, of course, I support trans rights,” he
said. “But meet me halfway, ladies: Lose the cock. That's all I'm
saying.”
Gervais also joked about HIV, the virus
that causes AIDS, which initially hit gay and bisexual men the
hardest. “That's not as good as it was, AIDS. … In its heyday, it
was fucking amazing, wasn't it, AIDS?”
Netflix has not commented on the
controversy surrounding Gervais' comedy special.