Ricky Gervais said on Friday he has already come up with jokes against "specific targets" for his weekend Golden Globes Award hosting gig — and that he will stand by every gag.
But the comedian said he had felt no enmity with any of the A-list Hollywood stars who will be attending Sunday's televised awards dinner and ceremony, and knew no-one who was upset by his acerbic comments last year.
"I know what I'm going to say outside the odd ad lib. I can justify it. I stand by it as I do every joke I did last year," Gervais told television reporters.
But he kept mum about which celebrities would feel his acid tongue on his third stint at hosting the Golden Globes. Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, George Clooney and Meryl Streep are among the nominees and are expected to attend.
"I have specific targets. I've written the gags, although targets isn't the word I'd use — subjects maybe.
"I've got nothing against anyone in the room, I've worked with many of them, I like many of them, I admire most of them. They're just gags. I'm not trying to hurt anyone's feelings or give them a bad name or undermine the moral fabric of America. I'm a comedian, I rather they laugh than gasp but I'll cherish the laughs along with the gasps," he said.
Gervais said he didn't think his jokes last year offended any of the movie and TV stars he made fun of. He has since worked with Johnny Depp, whose film "The Tourist" Gervais ridiculed last year.
"I don't know anyone who was outraged last year, because everyone I spoke to who I made a joke about was cool about it," he said.
Gervais, who created the TV mockumentary "The Office", was invited to host the Golden Globes for a third time despite organizers saying last year he would never be invited back.