Ricky Gervais has defended making a joke about terminally ill children, telling his critics he wishes them 'luck' in removing it from his Netflix special Armageddon.
The comedian, 62, has come under fire after the clip began circulating on social media, in which the star called sick children “bald” and asked those who wanted to meet him through the Make-A-Wish Foundation: “Why don't you you don't want to get better?'
But when BBC Radio 5 Live's Nihal Arthanayake spoke about the backlash, the comedian insisted the joke had been taken out of context as he pushed back on claims of 'ableism'.
He revealed: “In the actual skit I say, 'I've been doing a lot of video messages for terminally ill kids lately. Only if they ask for it. I don't storm into hospitals and say: wake up bald.'
'In the joke I literally say that I don't do that. But people have a reaction. They don't analyze it. They feel something – that's what insult is. It's a feeling.'
Ricky Gervais defends making a joke about terminally ill children, telling his critics he wishes them 'luck' in removing the joke from his Netflix special Armageddon
Ricky continued, “That's why 'I'm offended' is completely meaningless. What do you want me to change?'
The star's joke sparked a petition calling on Netflix to remove the skit from its comedy special and when asked if he had seen the specific wording of the petition, Ricky replied: 'Good luck. That's what I say to them. Good luck. I'll even retweet it'.
Ricky then revealed how he deals with criticism of some of his comedy routines, explaining: 'Ninety-nine percent of it is fake. They're not really offended. They just want to be heard.
“I'll explain: 'No, you confused the subject of the joke with the actual purpose.'
“Of all the millions of people who watched it and enjoyed it, only a few don't like it. When I give them special attention and try to calm them down, I have irritated the other millions of people who got the joke.
'They say, “No, you ruined it for us!” So I have a duty to the people who like it and get it.
'I wouldn't sit down with a heckler, would I? If I'm playing in front of twenty thousand people, I wouldn't stop the show and explain it to them. I ignore them.'
Ricky then spoke about whether his comedy was representative of his real-life views on controversial issues, saying, “Especially with irony and satire, I often play a character.
“But some people get confused and think a joke is a window into the comedian's true soul.
'It's just not true. It is a joke. No one does this with puns, right? Two guys didn't exactly walk into a bar.'
The comedian, 62, has come under fire after the clip began circulating on social media, in which the star calls sick children 'bald'.
Among those who came out on the strip because of his joke was the British disability charity Scope.
During his joke about Make-A-Wish requests, Ricky said, “I always say yes (to their requests). And I always start the video the same way. I say, “Why didn't you want to get better? What, are you fucking retarded too?”
Ricky continues, “I don't do that either, okay. These are all jokes, okay. I don't even use that word in real life. The R word.
'I used it in a joke, that's not real life, is it? I'm playing a role.'
Still, Scope warned that “such language has consequences,” saying, “We wish we were surprised by reports that Ricky Gervais has used ableism slurs in his new Netflix special.
“This type of language has consequences and we simply do not accept the explanation Gervais uses to justify this language.”
'He states that he would not use this language in 'real life'. But his stand-up routine doesn't exist in a parallel universe. The stage is real. Netflix really exists. The people who influence this kind of language are real.”
Two days later, Scope said it had been forced to disable its comments on Twitter after receiving hateful messages, adding that “we're not here to dictate what anyone should or shouldn't find funny.”
'Comedians who use the R slur encourage others to use it too. We saw this firsthand this week, with people with disabilities being directly abused in the comments of our post. This is real life, regardless of whether Gervais himself would use the slur outside of his routine.”
The charity added: 'We're not here to dictate what someone should or shouldn't find funny. But we can't pretend this comedy exists in a vacuum. This week proved that.”
Sess Cova, a mother who says her child Katy “bravely battled cancer,” also launched a petition urging Netflix to remove the “offensive skit from its platform.” Since then, more than 5,000 signatures have been received.
Sess Cova, a mother who says her child Katy “bravely battled cancer,” launched a petition urging Netflix to remove the “offensive skit from its platform”
Former Ex on the Beach star Ashley Cain also slammed Ricky for making jokes about terminally ill children.
Ashley's daughter Azaylia died after losing her battle with acute myeloid leukemia in April 2021, when she was just eight months old.
Reality star Ashley, 33, and his partner Safiyya Vorajee have spoken openly about their grief over their loss and have raised money on behalf of their late daughter to help other children battling cancer.
He posted on his Instagram Stories: 'I was actually a fan of Ricky Gervais but I recently had to turn off his stand-up because I was watching it with family and several jokes were made about terminally ill children and especially children with cancer. .
'Some things just aren't funny. Especially for the parents who are left behind.
“You can get canceled for so many things these days, but it's okay to make fun of dying children.
“I'm actually so angry about this.”
Ashley hinted that he had trouble staying calm while writing his post, writing that he was “trying to stay as professional as possible,” adding, “I know Ricky jokes about making so much money that he doesn't care what we humans are. think.'
He continued, “But one day he will learn and he better hope I don't have to teach him that lesson. Because I don't play when it comes to certain things. And that's certainly one of those things.'
Ashley said he had spent time with other grieving fathers earlier that day: 'The craziest thing is that just today I played in a charity match for Good Morning Britain, along with a group of wonderful gentlemen who are part of a charity for grieving fathers.
“Every man I stood next to shared each other's excruciating pain after losing a child.
'Brilliant men, with beautiful children who were taken from this earth too soon. They are left with a hole in their lives that is truly impossible to fill.'
Ashley Cain also called out Ricky for making jokes about terminally ill children. His daughter Azaylia died of acute myeloid leukemia in April 2021 at just eight months old
Ricky is no stranger to reactions to his jokes. Last year, the comedian hit back at critics after Twitter's “woke brigade” attacked Ricky for mocking cancel culture with jokes about transgender people, Adolf Hitler and AIDS in his SuperNature Netflix special.
He begins the show with a warning about irony, describing the concept of comedy to the audience as “basically a guy talking,” before deliberately not remembering any “funny female comedians.”
In SuperNature, Ricky wastes no time in singling out the “virtue signaling” and “dominant gangs” who are quick to criticize just to “bring people down to raise their own status.”
But his jokes were later described as “dangerous” material by a US LGBT rights group, while Stonewall accused him of “making fun of transgender people”.
In response, Ricky told The Spectator at the time: 'My target was not transfolk, but transactivist ideology. I have always been confronted with dogmas that oppress people and limit freedom of expression.'