The most commonly asked question at the Golden Globe Awards after-parties was some variation of "so just how awkward was Ricky Gervais?"
Going into the event, everyone knew the host was going to make every effort to stir the pot; at one point he quipped that he'd do his best to be sure he was not invited back. After Gervias joked that he'd just helped Philip Berk, the president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association off the toilet and with putting his teeth back in, he called presenter Bruce Willis "Ashton Kutcher's dad," and suggested that a bribe scheme was the only reason "The Tourist" was nominated.
Gervais might have gotten his wish.
"I don't know how it played in people's living rooms, but inside that ballroom it was very, very awkward," one presenter said after the show.
And all of that makes Gervais' nearly hour-long disappearance during the second half of the show all the more interesting. Was Gervais MIA because he was getting a stern talking-to backstage?
"The hosts are never out on stage as much during the back half of the show," said one person involved with the production, in defense of Gervais. Generally speaking, that is true. However, when Gervais returned, he was much more well behaved.
"I hope he was being told to back off a little," said another person who attended the show with her Globe-nominated client. "Sure, be funny, be edgy, but the point of this is not to make the people who are celebrated feel uncomfortable. That's what he did."
What did you think? Did Gervais cross the line? Tell us in the comments below.
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