Ricky Gervais Responds To Criticism About His Trans Jokes In His New Netflix Standup Show

Ricky Gervais has defended his latest Netflix standup special and his jokes on the transgender community.

The British comedian has been under fire this week because of some of the content in his latest stand-up show, SuperNature.

In one part of the show, Gervais spoke about the transgender community, the social commentary about them and urged trans women to 'lose the c**k'.

"Oh, women. Not all women, I mean the old-fashioned ones. The ones with wombs. Those f**king dinosaurs," he said during the Netflix special.

"I love the new women. They’re great, aren’t they? The new ones we’ve been seeing lately. The ones with beards and c**ks."

Later in the special, Gervais explained his reasoning behind his trans jokes.

"Full disclosure: In real life of course I support trans rights. I support all human rights, and trans rights are human rights," he said.

"Live your best life. Use your preferred pronouns. Be the gender that you feel that you are."

He then added: "But meet me halfway, ladies. Lose the c**k. That’s all I’m saying."

The comments did not go down well on social media, with one Twitter user saying: "SuperNature just wasn’t funny for me. We’re past using 'it’s a joke' as an excuse for being offensive."

A second added: "I mean, this really isn't, like, a joke ... If you agree with this world view then you're going to laugh and go 'Haha! Yes! He said a thing I agree with that I feel isn't openly said!' And that's as deep as it goes."

But Gervais has since sat down with the The Spectator to chat about the backlash.

"My target wasn't trans folk, but trans activist ideology. I've always confronted dogma that oppresses people and limits freedom of expression," Gervais said.

"It was probably the most current, most talked about, taboo subject of the last couple of years. I deal in taboo subjects and have to confront the elephant in the room."

In light of the criticism, a clip from fellow comedian James Acaster's 2019 show Cold Lasagne Hate Myself 1999 has been splashed across social media.

In the clip, Acaster calls out 'edgy comedians' for saying 'whatever they like'.

"No one tells them what they can and can’t say. They walk straight on stage, top of their specials sometimes, and do 10 solid minutes just slagging off transgender people," Acaster said.

"Yeah, cause you know who’s been long overdue a challenge? The trans community. They’ve had their guard down for too long, if you ask me."

Acaster then named his fellow British comic directly.

"Most people are still more than happy to laugh at trans people but they’re not comfortable laughing at Ricky Gervais yet," he said.

Featured Image Credit: Netflix

Topics: Ricky Gervais, Netflix, LGBTQ, Celebrity

Rachel Lang

Rachel Lang is a Digital Journalist at LADbible. During her career, she has interviewed Aussie PM Malcolm Turnbull in the lead up to the 2016 federal election, ran an editorial campaign on the war in Yemen, and reported on homelessness in the lead-up to Harry and Meghan’s wedding in Windsor. She also once wrote a yarn on the cheese and wine version of Fyre Festival.

@rlangjournalist