Ricky Gervais has defended himself after a parent slammed him for allegedly including a 'dead baby joke' at a gig.
Recently bereaved mum, Suzi Gourley, bought tickets for his Humanity tour on Tuesday night in Belfast. Halfway through the gig, she and her husband walked out after being offended by a joke.
Suzi told Belfast Live: "I just think, 'Why? What is the need?'. This is our life - we have no choice but to live with this. I know people take things differently and I know our emotions are raw, but why joke about a baby being dead? It's just wrong.
"Some people might read this and think we're over sensitive and maybe we are - but it's just not funny."
Suzi and Ryan. Credit: Facebook
She and her husband, Ryan, were out on their first night out since their baby was stillborn in July last year.
Suzi said: "I would tell him: 'Please, please consider your audience. Bereaved parents are 1 in 4. There's no way I was the only one sitting there last night that that didn't strike a nerve with'."
Ricky has since taken to Twitter to defend himself.
He also shared his own quote that read: "I see offence as the collateral damage of free speech. I hate the thought of a person's ideas being modified or even hushed because someone somewhere might not like to hear them. Outside actually breaking the law or causing someone physical harm, 'hurting someone's feelings' is almost impossible to objectively quantify."
Ricky is doing his second show in Belfast this evening.
Stillbirth support organisation, SANDS NI, has since posted a warning to its Facebook page after the couple walked out.
It wrote: "They have asked us to make any bereaved parents attending the show tonight (29th March) [aware] that there is a 'joke' about dead babies which upset this couple so much that they had to leave the show.
"Going out after a loss can be a difficult thing to do. There are feelings of doubt, thoughts that you shouldn't be enjoying yourself as it is somehow disrespectful to your child's memory.
"If you are going to the Waterfront Hall tonight please be aware of this part of the show as it may be upsetting."
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Featured Image Credit: PA ImagesTopics: joke, Parents, Ricky Gervais
