Comedian takes aim at Ricky Gervais’ trans jokes during Golden Globes

Ricky Gervais may have regretted skipping the Golden Globes, as his absence left the perfect opportunity for Wanda Sykes to rip into his comedy.

Despite his threat last year to not hold back if he got the gig, Gervais was not the host of this year’s star-studded evening; he didn’t even attend.

His previous turn left the famous audience cringing and wincing with his cancellable gags, especially after a reference to Jeffrey Epstein.

This year, American comic Nikki Glaser took on hosting duties, but that doesn’t mean Gervais’ controversial comedy was forgotten.

The Office star won for best stand-up comedy performance on TV, which was being presented by actress Sykes, so she got to accept Gervais’ award for him.

‘Shoutout to the Golden Globes for having me,’ the Curb Your Enthusiasm star said. ‘You know there’s some people p**sed off that a queer Black woman is up here doing the job of two mediocre white guys.’

Turning her signature sharp tongue towards Gervais, she quipped: ‘I love you for not being here. If you win, I get to accept the award on your behalf, and you’re going to thank God and the trans community.’

Her jab comes after the Derek actor was accused of making transphobic jokes about Caitlyn Jenner while hosting the Globes in 2016.

While on stage, he deadnamed Jenner (using her pre-transition name) but later defended himself, saying it was not a joke about her being trans.

In Humanity, he dedicated 15 minutes to discussing the former Olympian, in which he deadnamed her a further 15 times, according to Pink News.

During the same routine, he then compared gender self-identification to wanting to be a ‘chimp’, saying he was ‘chimp pre-op’ and wanted to go by the name ‘Bobo’.

Since then, he has faced continued criticism for his ‘anti-woke’ comedy routines, one of which involves suggesting trans women assault cisgender women in bathrooms – a transphobic talking point.

In Netflix special Special Nature, which aired in 2022, he declared: ‘I love the new women. They’re great, aren’t they? The new ones we’ve been seeing lately. The ones with beards and cocks.’

Prefer us to the others? Then tell Google!

As a loyal Metro reader, we want to make sure you never miss our stories when searching for your news. Whether it is the latest politics news explained, live football coverage or a showbiz scoop.

Click here and tick Metro.co.uk to ensure you see stories from us first in Google Search.

He then added that he ‘supports trans rights,’ stating ‘I support all human rights and trans rights are human rights,” before falling back into harmful stereotypes and asking: ‘But meet me halfway, ladies. Lose the cock. That’s all I’m saying.’

In 2023, over 12,000 people signed a petition calling for Netflix to axe his comedy special Armageddon before it was even released, after a teaser clip showed him making gags about terminally ill children and using the R-slur.

Immediately after the offensive joke, he told the audience of the show: ‘These are all jokes, all right? I don’t even use that word in real life, the R-word. … I’m playing a role.’

He has repeatedly defended his comedy as ‘just jokes’, most recently in an interview with BBC This Cultural Life.

‘I have a right to talk about those things,’ he said. ‘And there are jokes I certainly stand by. I can’t look back and say, “Oh, sorry about that, I said that when I was only 50.”‘

Gervais continued: ‘As you do get more progressive, maybe, and milder and change, what usually happens is, the things you used to do look worse.

‘What I do is I try and get more offensive, so when I look back, I go “aw wasn’t I kind when I was 45”.’

He then reassured the interviewer that that too ‘was a joke’.

Got a story?

If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us [email protected], calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.