Ricky Gervais is firing back at people who want him to remove a joke they deem inappropriate in his upcoming Netflix stand-up special, “Armageddon.”
In a preview clip of the special, Gervais says he makes a lot of video messages for terminally ill children for the Make-A-Wish Foundation when asked to help.
“I don’t burst into hospitals and go, ‘Wake up, baldy,’” he says, as the crowd roars with laughter.
“I always start the video the same way. I go, ‘Why didn’t you wish to get better?’ he continues. “What, are you f------ r-----ed, as well?”
He quickly scales back by reminding the audience he’s kidding.
“These are all jokes, alright? I don’t even use that word in real life, the R word,” he says.
The “After Life” star then goes on to imitate someone who questions him by saying he did indeed just use the word, with Gervais saying it’s part of a routine.
“I’m playing a role,” he says, while noting he’s convincing because he’s good at what he does and no one would ever confuse Anthony Hopkins for being a cannibal in real life because he played one in “The Silence of the Lambs.”
He then topped the joke by saying it would be “r-----ed” if he came out and did his routine “not very well.”
A petition to remove the bit from the special, which premieres Christmas Day, has been created. Gervais, who is known for his edgy comedy, defended the routine.
“In the actual skit, I say, ’I’ve been doing a lot of video messages recently for terminally ill children. Only if they request it. I don’t burst into hospitals and go, ‘Wake up, baldy’. I’m even saying I don’t do that. Literally saying in the joke that I don’t do that,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live.
TODAY.com reached out to Netflix for comment on the matter, but has not heard back.
Gervais says the negative response is based on opinion.
“It’s a reaction,” he said.
“They don’t analyze it. They feel something — that’s what offense is. It’s a feeling. That’s why ‘I’m offended’ is quite meaningless, because what’s your argument? What do you want me to change? You’ve said you didn’t like it. That’s fair enough.”
As for the petition itself, Gervais doesn’t seem too concerned with it.
“Good luck. That’s what I say to them,” he said. “Good luck. I’ll even retweet it.”
Speaking more broadly of his comedy, Gervais, who says a lot of the backlash he receives is “faux offense” from those who “just want to be heard,” is confused by the criticism.
“I don’t know what people are demanding. What are they asking from me? To stop making jokes they don’t like?” he said.
He also said he has no problems with people disliking his material.
“People are allowed to be offended. They’re allowed to hate it,” he said. “They’re allowed to not come to the show, but it’s not going to stop me doing what I love.”
Gervais is no stranger to criticism of his comedy. Last year, his special “SuperNature” drew ire for jokes he made about trans people and others in the LGBTQ community.
He later explained why he likes to tackle subjects that some may feel should be off limits.
“I think that’s what comedy is for, really — to get us through stuff, 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 said on BBC’s “The One Show.”
“Most offence comes from when people mistake the subject of a joke with the actual target.”