'Comedians using ableist slurs emboldens others to use it'

Disability charity Scope says it has been bombarded with abuse against disabled people after criticising Ricky Gervais for using ableist slurs in his new Netflix special.

Earlier this week, the organisation took to social media to call out the comedian using for the R-word in his Armageddon show,  saying: ‘Language like this has consequences.’

And last night it posted: ‘Comedians using the r-slur emboldens others to use it.  We’ve seen this first hand this week, with disabled people being abused directly in the replies to our post.’

Their initial comments came after Gervais posted a clip from the special on YouTube, promoting its release on Christmas day, in which he defended his use of the R-word.

In it, the comic cracked a bad-taste joke about how he might respond to a Make-A-Wish Foundation request to ease the last days of a dying child that contained the offensive word.

But then he defends its use, saying it was only a joke he wouldn’t use the word in ‘real life’, saying he was merely 'playing a role’ as part of the gag.

'You wouldn't level that accusation that other art forms,’ he said. ‘You wouldn't go up to Sir Anthony Hopkins and go: "Saw you in Silence Of The Lambs. What, so you’re a cannibal, are you?"’

Here’s the clip containing the offending material:

Writing on X, Scope said ‘We’re just not accepting the explanation that Gervais uses to try and justify this language

‘He argues that he wouldn’t use this language in "real-life".  But his stand-up routine doesn’t exist in a parallel universe.  The stage is real. Netflix is real. The people this kind of language impacts are real.

‘Disabled people already face negative attitudes, and the media has an enormous role to play in improving understanding. "Joking" about this kind of language trivialises it. It risks normalising the abuse that many disabled people face on a day-to-day basis.

‘It’s frustrating that we are once again having to call out a public figure for using this kind of harmful language. But we need to be absolutely clear that this kind of language isn’t acceptable.’

And the charity later said it had to turn off replies after getting abuse from other social media users.

They explained: ‘We aren’t trying to "police" comedy, or speak on behalf of all disabled people. 

‘But it’s important to talk about the real-life consequences of language like this.

‘Comedians using the r-slur emboldens others to use it.  We’ve seen this first hand this week, with disabled people being abused directly in the replies to our post. This *is* real-life, whether or not Gervais would use the slur himself outside of his routine.

‘Online abuse, bullying and trolling is a common experience for disabled people.

‘We aren’t here to dictate what anyone should or should not find funny. But we can’t pretend that this comedy exists in a vacuum. This week has proven that.’

Earlier this week, Gervais showed his kinder side, donating £1.9million raised from the sale of premium seats to the Armageddon tour to animal charities across the world.

• Gervais appears on the Graham Norton Show tonight to promote Armageddon, saying: 'It is a jumping-off point about what’s going to end humanity – global warming, nuclear war, our own stupidity, people.  I sort of conclude that it’s not a bad thing if we wipe out humanity because the earth will return to a paradise in a few hundred years.'

Asked about his process for creating a stand-up show, he says, 'In the early days I would write more and do five warm-ups, then I was writing less, doing more warm-ups and letting the audience decide, and now for this one, I did 50 warm-ups and walk out with just a few notes.  It  evolves and it gets better and better.  Then I start getting bored and I can’t wait to start all over again.'

The Graham Norton Show airs on BBC One at 10,40pm tonight.

Published: 8 Dec 2023