Find Live comedy

Ricky Gervais: Why it's OK for me to use the R-word in my stand-up

Clip from his new Armageddon special

Ricky Gervais defends using the R-word in his stand-up in this new clip from his forthcoming Armageddon stand-up special.

In it, the comic cracks 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.

But then he defends his use of the offensive word, which some regard as ableist hate speech, saying it was because he was 'playing a role'.

Gervais added: 'You wouldn't level that accusation that other art forms. 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?'

Armageddon is to be released on Netflix on Christmas Day.

Yesterday Chortle reported how Gervais had become an investor in a Yorkshire distillary.

Thanks for reading. If you find Chortle’s coverage of the comedy scene useful or interesting, please consider supporting us with a monthly or one-off ko-fi donation.

Any money you contribute will directly fund more reviews, interviews and features – the sort of in-depth coverage that is increasingly difficult to fund from ever-squeezed advertising income, but which we think the UK’s vibrant comedy scene deserves.

Subscribe or donate here

Published: 29 Nov 2023