Image Source: Thomas Atilla Lewis, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
What Was the Accusation?
British comedian Ricky Gervais faced widespread criticism after hosting the 68th Annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, on January 16, 2011. Gervais, who had also hosted the ceremony the previous year, used his opening monologue and presenter introductions to make pointed jokes about Hollywood celebrities, recent films and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), the organization that presented the awards. His targets included Charlie Sheen, Hugh Hefner, Robert Downey Jr., Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie and HFPA president Philip Berk. He also mocked the critical reception of The Tourist, the appearance of the cast of Sex and the City 2, and made a joke alluding to prominent Scientologists. The unusually confrontational tone produced laughter, groans and visible discomfort inside the ballroom and immediately became one of the principal stories surrounding the awards ceremony.
Criticism centered less on whether an awards-show host could make jokes about celebrities than on whether Gervais had crossed the line from comedic roasting into unnecessarily personal ridicule. Contemporary reporting described some critics and attendees as viewing the performance as mean-spirited. Downey publicly criticized the tone of the ceremony after Gervais referred to his past problems with addiction, while Berk said that Gervais had crossed a line and that some of his remarks were unacceptable. Reaction was not uniform, however. Hugh Hefner publicly indicated that he had enjoyed the evening despite being one of Gervais’s targets. Gervais also maintained immediately after the ceremony that the atmosphere backstage had been good and that the people he had joked about could take the material.
On January 20, 2011, Gervais addressed the controversy in an interview with Piers Morgan on CNN. Rather than offer a conventional apology, he defended both his material and his role as host. Gervais said that the HFPA had hired him with the understanding that he would be free to say what he wanted and argued that the organization knew what kind of comedian it was hiring. He characterized the remarks as comedy directed at extraordinarily successful public figures, rejected the premise that he had committed wrongdoing and said his principal objective was to make people laugh while remaining true to his own comedic approach. When Morgan raised the possibility that some targets had been offended, Gervais expressed sympathy for anyone who felt offended but explicitly declined to apologize for what he had said. His response therefore functions as an apologia based primarily on defense and reduction of perceived offensiveness rather than an admission of misconduct.
Key Apologia Strategies:
Denial, Minimization, Defeasibility, Good Intentions
Video
Transcript
Excerpts from Ricky Gervais’s January 20, 2011 CNN interview with Piers Morgan:
Morgan: How has this week been for you? How do you feel? Do you feel remotely remorseful?
Gervais: No. What have I done wrong?
Morgan: You said these terrible things about these pampered prima donnas in Hollywood.
Gervais: Well, what did I say that was so bad?
Morgan: Let me remind you.
Gervais: Yes.
Morgan: OK. Let’s play a clip.
Gervais: OK.
Morgan: This I think was the one nearest the knuckle.
Gervais: OK.
Morgan: Now, obviously, I must have been the only one who didn’t know on Earth what you were talking about — or who you were talking about.
Gervais: Nor do I.
Morgan: Yes, you wouldn’t either.
Gervais: No, no. I didn’t.
Morgan: You were just throwing it out there.
Gervais: Yes, exactly.
Morgan: So you just conveniently came up with that line?
Gervais: Yes. Cheers.
Morgan: Cheers. I’m giving you the beer, because we know how you perform after a few beers. When you see the reaction of an audience — it’s interesting watching your face as the audience begins to gasp and groan in horror — I would argue you seem to get a bit of a kick out of that than you do out of a joke, because —
Gervais: Well, I get as big a kick out of it. I also know where these beats are coming. I know when they’re going to laugh, I know when they’re going to gasp, I know when they’re going to groan. I know — this is considered comedy. This isn’t me going out there and saying the most outrageous things I could think of. I mean, if people are offended by the things I said at that ceremony, they should never come and see my standup.
Morgan: Well, I’ve seen your standup.
Gervais: What exactly?
Morgan: I mean, that was a tea party compared to your standup.
Gervais: Well, of course. That was daytime television, you know, on network TV across America. And if your aim is to shock, you know, a Christian family in Idaho at 5:00, then that’s too easy. And my main aim isn’t to shock people at all.
Morgan: What is your aim at?
Gervais: I want to make people laugh, and I want to do a good job, but on my terms, really. It’s not a popularity contest with me. If someone said, “Oh, you could make that joke more palatable, more people would like you,” I’d go, “But that’s not my joke then.” You know, I do this for me, really, and I think you’ve got to be true to yourself.
Morgan: Do you clear any of the material with anyone before you say it?
Gervais: What, you mean officials?
Morgan: With the Globes, for example.
Gervais: Oh, no, no. When they took me on — the first year they said, “Do you want to host the Globes?” I think it’s because I’ve done a couple of appearances at the Emmys and the Globes, and it was fun. And they said, “Would you like to host the Globes?” And I said, “Can I say what I want?” And they said, “Yes.”
Morgan: So, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, they have no warning of what’s coming?
Gervais: No, not at all. And to be fair to them, the first year and the second year, they kept to that. They didn’t want to see it. And yes —
Morgan: One of the leading figures from that organization came on afterwards and was vaguely condemnatory, thought you had gone over the line a few times.
Gervais: But what was he meant to say? You know? If someone says to him, “Do you think he went over the top?” — he’s got to be honest. And to his sensibilities, maybe I did, you know? But he said to me beforehand he believes in freedom of speech. Also, you know, all he said was, I think, if I remember, he said, “Those attacks weren’t necessarily the thoughts of” — and they’re not, you know? All he said was, “I didn’t see the script,” which is fine, which is absolutely true. They didn’t see the script. It was nothing to do with them. I’m sure (INAUDIBLE), they hired me for a job. And if they didn’t want me, they shouldn’t have hired me.
Morgan: Someone asked me, “You know, what do you think? As a fellow Brit on TV in America, what do you think will happen to Ricky?” I said, “Well, it’s a bit like inviting a hammerhead shark to dinner. I mean, when he eats all the guests, you start complaining.” I mean, you’ve got to know what you’re going to get.
Gervais: Well, but that’s one thing. But also, as I say, I don’t think I did anything wrong. I honestly — you know, those were like giants, these people. And I’m sure they’ve got a sense of humor. I’m sure Johnny Depp — Johnny Depp is one of the most successful, richest, most loved, most handsome people on the planet. And I’m sure he’s got a sense of humor. If he hasn’t, all those things are wasted. But I’m sure he has. Do you really think — do you really think that he hasn’t seen the press about “The Tourist”? Do you know? Do you really think he’s hurt that I didn’t like “The Tourist”?
Morgan: Well, I like your confidence. I mean, having interviewed lots of Hollywood stars before, I think your confidence that none of them would be offended is probably stretching it a bit. I mean, they can be delicate little flowers.
Gervais: Well, OK. Well, if they are, I’m sorry for them being offended, but I’m not sorry for anything I said, because I’m not going to apologize for being true to my self. And no one has the right not to be offended. And don’t forget, just because you’re offended, it doesn’t mean you’re in the right. A lot of people are offended by mixed marriage. It doesn’t mean they’re right, you know?
Morgan: Are there any limits in comedy?
Gervais: There’s nothing you shouldn’t joke about. It depends what the joke is. Comedy comes from a good or a bad place, and I like to think that mine comes from a good place. You know, when you see my standup, on the face of it, I’m looking at taboo subjects, but they’re to get me to a position. They’re to get the audience to a place I haven’t been before. I think a comedian’s job isn’t just to make people laugh. I think it’s to make people think. OK?
Morgan: You take the art of comedy pretty seriously.
Gervais: Well, I do, because I think with comedy, you should have no prejudices. I think as soon as you have prejudices, it falls down comedically. Comedy is an intellectual pursuit. Comedy appeals to the intellect, not to the emotional. As soon as you go emotional, it stops being funny. It starts being rallying. That’s why a real racist joke isn’t funny because it’s not true. And someone in the audience is going, well, he’s having a go at something I can’t help. OK. You have a go at things people do. If someone goes crazy and trashes a hotel room and, you know, talk about it. But you don’t talk about someone because of their sexuality or the color of their skin.
Morgan: I want to play another clip from the infamous Golden Globes night.
Morgan: See, what I loved about it — it’s actually great watching you watching this, because you were just smirking all the way through that.
Gervais: Yes. I knew what was coming.
Morgan: When I watched that, when that line came up, I just burst out laughing. I was on Twitter, and immediately just said, “All right. Already, I’m in complete hysterics here.”
Gervais: Again, and who’s going to be offended by that?
Morgan: I don’t know, Ashton Kutcher, Bruce Willis?
Gervais: No. They know it’s a joke. They know — again, the target there is my, I suppose, misinformation.
Morgan: Did you speak to either of them? Bruce was there, right?
Gervais: Yes. No, I didn’t. The people I spoke to were — I spoke to Tom Hanks and Tim Allen. They were cool with it. You know? Jennifer Lopez was the funniest. I was coming out, and it was halfway through the show, and I was going on stage, and they’re waiting, Alex Baldwin and Jennifer Lopez. And she turns and says, “Gervais, I will kill you, man. What are you going to” — I said, “It’s fine.” She went, “Oh, man.” I said — she goes, “You’re going to have a go at me?” I said, “Well, of course, I’m going to have a go at you. I’m not going to have a go at him. Look at the size of him.” Right? I said, “I’ve got to have a go at someone. And pick the big man or the woman, I’m going to have a go at the woman.” She went, “You had a go at men out there.” I said, “No. Johnny Depp, he’s pretty. He’s not like he’s” — so — and she went, “Oh, man, I’m going to kill you.” And I went out there and I did the thing, which was “‘Jenny from the Block.” “If the block in question is the one on Rodeo Drive.” And as she came around the corner she went, “OK.” She was OK with it. Again, this is it. Half the time you hear these people, they were offended, they weren’t. This is — this is the thing — with things like some on media, you know, you on Twitter. Now, Twitter is like evolution among bacteria. It’s so much faster. So one gets — and then it spreads like a virus.
Morgan: Well, with Twitter, the thing that was going on — and I joined in this — was that you had been — you’d been shot dead halfway through the show.
Gervais: I didn’t know about this until afterwards.
Morgan: Because you disappeared, and it suddenly became — somebody started this, “Where is Ricky Gervais?”
Gervais: Yes.
Morgan: And then it became, “Well, where is he?” And then the minutes tick by, and we kept waiting, and there’s no sign of you.
Gervais: The most serious one that actually was a conspiracy theory that went on was that the organizers had stopped me going out.
Morgan: Yes.
Gervais: But this continued after I then came out.
Morgan: Yes.
Gervais: Which didn’t make sense.
Morgan: Well, it seemed like you came out a little coward when you came back out.
Gervais: No, not at all. They were all scheduled. And if they’d say, “You can’t go out there,” or “Tone it down,” it wouldn’t happen.
Morgan: I want to play another clip now from the night, which is Robert Downey, Jr. decided to take you on.
Morgan: Now, you’re laughing there.
Gervais: Yes.
Morgan: Was he joking?
Gervais: Of course he was joking.
Morgan: How do you know?
Gervais: Because I’ve met him, and he’s got a great sense of humor.
Morgan: Did you meet him afterwards?
Gervais: No, no, no. Beforehand.
Morgan: So you’re guessing he’s joking.
Gervais: Well, I’m guessing that he’s not bothered by anything I said. Why would he be? He’s Robert Downey, Jr. He’s the coolest man in the world. Why would he care? And there was this conspiracy that the crowd was stunned into silence. Well, someone put a laugh track on them, because they’re all — they’re all laughing. It’s crazy.
Morgan: Well, obviously you’re into these kinds of things. Half of them are roaring with laughter.
Gervais: Yes.
Morgan: — and half of them are too shocked to say anything because they can’t believe —
Gervais: Well, exactly.
Morgan: — any presenting — no hosts do this in America.
Gervais: Oh, it’s also the worst room for a comic, because Jerry Seinfeld said he’d never do an award show, because they’re not there to be made laughed at. They’re there to see if they won an award.
Morgan: Yes.
Gervais: And, of course, as it goes on, with everyone that wins, three people lost. So it’s exponential that people will go —
Morgan: You end up with two-thirds of the room are extremely unhappy.
Gervais: And drunk.
Morgan: And you’ve got to try and make them laugh.
Gervais: Yes.
Morgan: And your strategy is to try on pour on the misery.
Gervais: No, my strategy is to make me laugh. If there’s anyone in the world like me, that’s a bonus. I’m very Darwinist about this. You do your own thing, and then you see if you survive. And I wouldn’t have it any other way, because if you start second-guessing and you’re trying to find people that are like you, or change it to make certain people like you, you’re finished. And you’re finished as a comedian more than any other thing in the world. You know, it’s not my job to worry about what people think of me. That’s a job for a politician. OK? I don’t care what people think of me. I care if I’ve done a good job and I care if I’ve told the truth. That’s all I care about. If it’s funny, what a great bonus that is.
Morgan: When we come back, I’m going to ask you about what I think was the contentious part of your speech at the Globes.
Morgan: And that, in a nutshell, is the secret. I mean, some of them
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