Ricky Gervais is likely already set to make a lot of people uncomfortable and offended with his final hosting appearance at the Golden Globes on Sunday. While the comedian has made a career of being an offending presence to this point, he recently ran into a topic that has foiled many awards show hosts in the past.
Gervais followed the J.K. Rowling transgender controversy by posting several tweets that were labeled transphobic. He has since come out to defend them as jokes, but that didn’t help change many minds ahead of Sunday’s telecast.
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Unlike Kevin Hart, Gervais is still set to appear and has no intention of dropping out. Many still would like to see him do just that, with Patricia Arquette likely joining the chorus according to Variety. The True Romance actress didn’t see the humor in Gervais’ jokes, partly due to her late sister Alexis Arquette’s struggles as a transgender person and activism.
“I think it’s a really important conversation for everybody to have. Obviously, I have very strong feelings about protecting the trans community,” Arquette said according to Variety. “I just don’t think anything’s funny about making fun of the trans community. They’re really persecuted, so I don’t think it’s funny.”
This echoed sentiments that Arquette shared back in September while accepting her Emmy for The Act, taking a moment to remember her sister.
“I’m in mourning every day of my life, Alexis, and I will be for the rest of my life for you, until we change the world so trans people are not persecuted — and give them jobs,” Arquette said. “They’re human beings, let’s get rid of this bias we have everywhere.”
Gervais’ tweets were reportedly meant in jest, with the comedian even discussing his intent with some users and directly responded to some outrage, including how he feels nothing is off-limits for a joke.
“I do. I also make jokes about AIDS, Cancer, Famine, and The Holocaust. Those things do a bit of harm too. But jokes don’t. Have a nice day,” Gervais wrote according to Variety.
The comments came on the heels of J.K. Rowling tweeting her support for Maya Forstater after her dismissal for tweeting her feelings that a person cannot change their biological sex.
Gervais might regret making the jokes at this point but it also isn’t the first joke he’s regretted a bit. He talked about how much he felt bad after making a joke about Tim Allen during his 2011 hosting appearance. While he wasn’t going to apologize for the joke, similar to now, he did mention how he wishes he could change what happened.
The 77th Annual Golden Globe Awards ceremony airs on NBC Sunday at 8 p.m. ET, live from Los Angeles.
