Ricky Gervais (After Life)has responded to the requests to remove some content from this latest Netflix special. The comedian has addressed the fact that there is a petition to get one of his jokes removed from his new Netflix special Armageddon. The joke has gained negative traction online as it is geared towards terminally ill children.
The joke in question that people are petitioning to get removed comes from the fact that Gervais has been allegedly busy making videos for terminally ill children for the Make-A-Wish foundation. He starts off the joke by stating that he doesn’t just barge into hospitals and say “Wake up baldy.” The joke then continues down the slippery slope and goes right out of the frying pan and into the fire with Gervais adding that he begins his videos by saying “Why didn’t you wish to get better? What, you f*cking ret**ed as well?”
After the initial outrage regarding the insensitive joke, Gervais was on BBC Radio 5 and spoke on the issue live on air. “I’m literally saying in the joke that I don’t do that,” he said “but people have a reaction. They don’t analyze it. They feel something – that’s what offense is. It’s a feeling. That’s why ‘I’m offended’ is quite meaningless. What do you want me to change?”
After this, he said that “99 percent of it” is “faux offense.”
He continues, “They’re not really offended. They just want to be heard. Of all the millions of people that watched it and loved it, only a few don’t like it. If I give them special attention and try and placate them, I’ve annoyed the other millions of people that got the joke. They go, ‘No, you’ve ruined it for us!’”
The comedian ends his explanation by considering his humor and fans as a “duty” that he needs to uphold. “I’ve got a duty to the people that like it and get it. I wouldn’t sit down with a heckler would I? If I’m playing to 20,000 people, I wouldn’t stop the show and explain to them. I ignore them.”
Ricky Gervais has been known for his crude and offensive humor. This is not his first offense with viewers getting upset over his humor.