Ricky Gervais Slammed For More Transphobic Bullshit In New Netflix Special
"It’s full of graphic, dangerous, anti-trans rants masquerading as jokes."
English comedian Ricky Gervais has been heavily criticised for transphobic jokes in a new Netflix special SuperNature, which the beleaguered streaming service released a week before Pride month in the US.
The agent provocateur famous for his candid celebrity roasts at the Golden Globe awards and successful television series — with a third season of Netflix series After Life recently netting him $5 million — released the hour-long comedy special which specifically targets wokeness, cancel culture, and identity politics.
The transgender community repeatedly feature as the focus of Gervais’s jokes in the special, with the comedian deliberately attempting to inspire outrage with lazy jokes.
“I love the new women. They’re great, aren’t they? The new ones we’ve been seeing lately. The ones with beards and cocks,” joked Gervais. “I support all human rights, and trans rights are human rights. Be the gender that you feel that you are. But meet me halfway, ladies: Lose the cock. That’s all I’m saying.”
Gervais’s special has been denounced by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Discrimination (GLAAD), who issued a statement describing the set as “graphic, dangerous, anti-trans rants masquerading as jokes”.
We watched the Ricky Gervais “comedy” special on Netflix so you don’t have to. It’s full of graphic, dangerous, anti-trans rants masquerading as jokes. He also spouts anti-gay rhetoric & spreads inaccurate information about HIV. 1/4
— GLAAD (@glaad) May 24, 2022
Trans Netflix employees participated in a walkout last month after the streaming service aired a Dave Chapelle special also with transphobic content. The streaming service posted subscribed losses last quarter of 200,000 and has signalled that it may introduce advertising as a way of generating revenue.
Conservative comedians like Gervais continue to insist that jokes attacking the LGBTQI+ community are made in the name of “equality” and “free speech” — all from position of obscene wealth and privilege.
The English playwright Trevor Griffiths noticed this phenomenon in the ’80s, with his play The Comedians inspired by the slew of British standup artists that used sexism and racism to fire “a lead pellet aimed at somebody in my society”.
Photo by Neilson Barnard via Getty Images