Ricky Gervais under fire for trans jokes in Netflix special: “I cancel”

English Office The creator’s name was trending on Twitter on Tuesday as the LGBTQ community urged viewers to boycott the special – with some people promising to cancel their Netflix subscriptions.

The comedy special was available from 5 p.m. Tuesday in Australia.

“I love new women,” rumbles Gervais in the special, which has only been on the streaming platform for a few hours on Tuesday morning. “They’re great, aren’t they?” The new ones we’ve seen lately. Those with beards and dicks. They are as good as gold, I love them.

Then, referencing the high-profile trans toilet controversy, the Life after death star said: “And now the old-fashioned are saying, ‘Oh, they want to use our toilets.’ “Why wouldn’t they use your restroom? ‘For ladies!'”

“’These are ladies, look at their pronouns! What about this person who is not a woman? “, he added. “’Well, his penis.’ “His penis, you fucking bigot!” ‘What if he rapes me?’”

“What if she rapes you, you f**king TERF w**re?” joked Gervais, referring to the acronym for Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist, which is used to refer to people who reject the idea that trans women are real women.

Gervais doubled down on his anti-trans attacks while discussing Kevin Hart’s decision not to host the 2018 Oscars over past tweets deemed homophobic. He criticized the trend of comics being canceled today for old tweets that weren’t considered controversial at the time.

“You can’t predict what will be offensive in the future,” said Gervais, who has joked in the past that his ultimate goal was to be canceled. “Like the worst thing you can say today, get canceled on Twitter, death threats, the worst thing you can say today is, ‘Women don’t have penises. ‘, right? Now, no one saw it coming.

“You won’t find a decade-old tweet saying ‘Women don’t have penises.’ Do you know why? We didn’t think we had to do it!” adds the comedian. He previously said that “smart people” aren’t offended by jokes about AIDS, Hitler and other taboo subjects.

Despite the perceived transphobic jokes, Ricky Gervais argued in the special that he’s actually a big supporter of 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,” the comic insisted. “Live your best life. Use your favorite pronouns. Be the type you feel you are. But meet me halfway, ladies. Losing the c**k. That’s all I’m saying.

Needless to say, the inflammatory jokes didn’t sit well with many netizens, who accused the Brit of hitting on a marginalized community.

“Ricky Gervais has a new stand-up show on Netflix today,” one reviewer fumed on Twitter. “After 5 minutes he makes jokes about trans women attacking and raping people in public bathrooms. For him, we only exist as a punchline, a threat, something less than human.

Another tweeted: “If you are a comedian and support trans people it is your responsibility to speak out against Dave Chappelle and new special Ricky Gervais. At this point, you cannot call yourself an ally unless you publicly object. it’s the bare minimum.

Another found hypocritical Gervais, who is an outspoken animal advocate, slamming trans people while railing against animal abuse.

“It’s insane that the whole part of Ricky Gervais is screaming and giggling at marginalized groups who are being brutally murdered on a daily basis, before turning to the camera, making a sad face and saying ‘some people put lipstick on rabbits,'” they wrote.

“In honor of Ricky Gervais and his 2-4-1 rant about trans people and cancel culture, I’m actually canceling,” one reviewer fumed about the streaming service, which recently lost a load of subscribers. “Thank you @netflix #TransRightsAreHumanRights.”

Advocacy group GLAAD also weighed in on Tuesday afternoon, tweeting in a thread that the special was “full of graphic, dangerous, anti-trans rants disguised as jokes. He also spouts anti-gay rhetoric and spreads inaccurate information about HIV.

However, some comedy fans were entertained by the British comedian, with one Twitter user writing, “5 minutes into the Ricky Gervais special and he already mentioned ‘the old type of women’ ‘the ones with wombs “being dinosaurs and respecting the pronouns of a rapist. Here we go!”

Another wrote: “I see Ricky Gervais standing up for the IDGAF+ community.”

The controversy comes after fellow comedian Dave Chappelle, also recently accused of making transphobic jokes, was tackled on stage by a rapper, who was allegedly “triggered” by the comedian’s jokes about the LGBTQ community.

“I identify as bisexual…and I wanted him to know what he was saying was triggering,” Isaiah Lee, currently incarcerated in Los Angeles, told the Post.

This article was originally published by the New York Post and reproduced with permission