Ricky Gervais has addressed a request he was made to remove a controversial joke from his upcoming comedy.
Armageddonwhich will air on Netflix on Christmas Day, features a joke about Gervais being busy making videos for terminally ill children for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
The UK Office The star shared that he only does the videos on request, saying he doesn't walk into hospitals and say, 'Wake up bald.'
He then added that he starts his videos to the kids by saying, “Why didn't you want to get better? What the fuck you too?'
Although he clarified that he was joking, many viewers were outraged by the sneak peak of the hour-long comedy special, which Gervais has already warned about, saying it talks about “sex, death, pedophilia, race, religion, disability, the freedom of of speech, global warming, the holocaust and Elton John Armageddon”, adding that “if they [the audience] don't approve of jokes about any of these things, then please don't watch them.”
A viewer, who is the parent of a child who suffered from cancer, started a petition asking Netflix to remove the skit. The report called Gervais “not only obnoxious but heartless” and criticized the “derogatory language” he used.
He also questioned “how a writer or anyone at Netflix could turn on such heinous content.”
Now, Gervais has responded to the report, saying BBC Radio 5 Live: “In jest I literally say I don't do that. But the world has a reaction. They don't analyze it. They feel something – that's the offense. It's a feeling. That's why “I'm offended” is completely meaningless. What do you want me to change?'
He then shared that he believes “99 percent” is a “fake offense.” He explained: “They're not really offended. They just want to be heard.”
“Of all the millions of people who have watched it and loved it, only a few don't like it,” he continued. “If I give them special attention and try to reassure them, I've annoyed the other millions of people who got the joke. They say, 'No, you spoiled it for us!'”
He added: “I have a duty to people who like it and take it. I wouldn't sit with a lover like that? If I'm playing to 20,000 people, I wouldn't stop the show and explain to them. I ignore them.”
