After a series of transphobic tweets and a controversial Golden Globe host concert, Ricky Gervais reiterates his rhetoric and damaging comments, this time with a new Netflix comedy special.
At the opening of his stand-up special “SuperNature”, the British comedian-actor-director launched into a transphobic diatribe, aimed specifically at trans women.
“Oh, women! Not all women, I mean old-fashioned. Old-fashioned women, those with bellies. Those fucking dinosaurs. I love new women. They’re great, aren’t they? New ones. “I’ve got a beard and roosters. They’re as good as gold; I love them,” Gervais joked.
“And now old-fashioned people say, ‘Oh, they want to use our toilets.’ “Why shouldn’t they use your toilets?” ‘For women!’ “They’re women, look at their pronouns! What about this person who’s not a lady?” “Well, his penis.” “His penis, fucking fan!” ‘And if you rape me?’ “What if she rapes you, you fucking TERF?”
Cheap jokes continued when Gervais spoke of Kevin Hart, who publicly resigned from a 2018 Oscars host appearance after his past homophobic tweets resurfaced.
“You can’t predict what will be offensive in the future. You don’t know who the dominant mafia will be,” Gervais said. “Like, the worst thing you can say today, to be canceled on Twitter, death threats, the worst thing you can say today is, ‘Women have no penis,’ right? Now, no one saw it coming. I can’t find it. a 10-year-old tweet from someone saying, “Women don’t have penises. You know why? We didn’t think we should!”
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Towards the end of his stand-up, the comic tried to tell his jokes and offer his support to the trans community:
“Full Disclosure: In real life, of course, I support trans rights. I support all human rights, and trans rights are human rights. Live your best life. Use your favorite pronouns. Be the gender that “You feel like you’re. But know me. Halfway through, ladies. Lose your cock. That’s all I’m saying.”
A few hours after his debut, the controversial Gervais set garnered a reaction on social media from multiple trans allies who emphasized that these offensive shots are not comic material.
“Ricky Gervais has a new stand-up show on Netflix today,” one user tweeted. “In 5 minutes he makes jokes about trans women who attack and rape people in public restrooms. For him we only exist as a punchline, a threat, something less than human.”
“Ricky Gervais New Stand Up Show #SuperNature makes jokes about trans women who attack and rape people in public restrooms,” another user wrote. “This is not comedy. This is making cheap and nasty stereotypes of a minority group. Please, if you are transgender or support trans lives, don’t look at that.”
An independent user tweeted his decision to cancel his Netflix subscription for the Gervais special: “In honor of Ricky Gervais and his 2-4-1 against trans people and cancel the culture, of In fact, I’m canceling. Thank you, “the user wrote. , ending its message with the hashtag #TransRightsAreHumanRights.
History of TERF de Gervais
Gervais’s transphobic diatribes and opinions are not a new incident. The comedian was previously criticized in 2016, when he mocked Caitlyn Jenner at the Golden Globes, and in her 2018 Netflix comedy special “Humanity,” in which she once again taped Jenner. In 2019, Gervais was convicted for his transphobic tweet thread, which is reported to have been in response to the satirical Twitter account Jarvis Dupont.
“We must protect women’s rights,” Gervais wrote in one of his tweets. “We don’t erode them because some men have found a clever new way to dominate and demonize an entire sex.”
“But if I said something transphobic you should report me. Twitter has rules to protect itself from this kind of vile fanaticism,” he continued. “My account will be closed and you will be right and you will have saved millions of lives. Why don’t you do that?”
Gervais later told The Hollywood Reporter that his comments were only “peeing Jarvis Dupont” and other accounts. He also blamed social media critics, saying people were too quick to take offense at crude jokes.
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“And that’s the problem. You can say, ‘Listen, I was kidding. It’s a joke.’ But that’s not always enough for people,” he said. “They say, ‘Well, why were you kidding?’ Also, add the nature of Twitter: it’s so short, there’s no nuance, it’s out of context forever. “
Netflix and TERF
Gervais ‘”SuperNature” joins a list of Netflix specials with anti-trans comics, including Gervais’ “Humanity” along with Dave Chappelle’s “The Closer.” In the latter, the disgraced comedian claimed to be the “TERF team” – in reference to trans-exclusive radical feminists, who do not recognize trans women as “real” women – and made degrading jokes about the genitals. of trans women.
Following its release, “The Closer” received criticism from trans activists, allies and Netflix employees, who staged a march in protest of the choice of the content of the broadcast giant. Despite the outrage, Netflix boss Ted Sarandos backed Chappelle and her comedy, saying bluntly that “the content on the screen doesn’t directly translate into real-world damage.”
“With The Closer, we understand that the concern is not with offensive content for some, but with headlines that could increase real-world damage (such as marginalizing even more marginalized groups, hatred, violence, etc.).” write Sarandos, for CNN. “While some employees disagree, we strongly believe that on-screen content does not directly translate into real-world damage.”
With Gervais’ latest special, Netflix has made it clear that it has no problem with transphobic comics and has no problem offering them a platform to issue inflammatory statements, which are supposed to be just “jokes.”
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