- Ricky Gervais goes back to his roots and does a stand-up special
- It received some backlash, calling Gervais transphobic and homophobic
- Gervais says that's not true - it's just comedy
In his latest Netflix comedy special, SuperNature the British comedian said a few jokes that didn't sit right with all of its viewers, but Gervais won't let that stop him from continuing to make jokes! Members of the American media monitoring organization, GLAAD have spoken out against Gervais accusing him of transphobic and homophobic rhetoric.
Ricky Gervais clarifies where he stands on LGBTQ rights
While the organization posted their disapproval to Twitter, saying that he was perpetuating "anti-trans" and "anti-gay" rants that "masquerade as jokes", the Afterlife actor spoke with BBC on Tuesday, and clarified that's not the case - it's all just jokes.
"I think that’s what comedy is for, really — to get us through stuff," he said to BBC's The One Show. "And I deal in taboo subjects because I want to take the audience to a place it hasn’t been before, even for a split second."
He continued that sometimes it is nerve-wracking to make risky jokes, comparing his taboo subjects with parachute jumping. "It starts and they go, 'What’s he going to say?' I tell the joke. Phew, they laugh. It’s like a parachute jump — it’s scary, but then you land and it’s all OK."
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He clarified that not everything he says in his comedy specials reflects his views 100%. He said, "In real life, of course I support trans rights. I support all human rights and trans rights are human rights."
He added, "Live your best life, use your preferred pronouns, be the gender that you feel that you are, it’s mad to think that joking about something means you’re anti-it."
This isn't the only comedian to face backlash over being alleged "anti-trans". Dave Chappelle has also received some major controversy around his own Netflix special.
His Netflix special The Closer caused such a stir at Netflix that some employees of the mega-streaming platform walked out in protest at the decision to have the special on its roster.
But, Chappelle said during one of his shows not to blame the LGBTQ community. He said to the audience, "Do not blame the LBGTQ community for any of this s--t. This has nothing to do with them. It’s about corporate interests and what I can say and what I cannot say."
Yikes! Both Ricky Gervais' special and Dave Chappelle's are available for streaming currently on Netflix.
