Golden Globe Host Ricky Gervais Stands By His Joke Roasting Tim Allen
While Ricky Gervais is a renowned comedian and reoccurring Golden Globe host, many believe that he has a tendency to go too far with his jokes. His blunt and British humor often lends to roasts that come across harsher than they're meant to. In an interview with THR, Gervais opens up about a joke he made about Tim Allen during the 2011 Golden Globes.
According to PopCulture, he retold the joke to the outlet and explains that he didn't mean any harm behind the joke.
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"So I came out and said, 'Our next two presenters, the first has won five Oscars, combined box office of five billion dollars. And the other, Tim Allen,'" Gervais began telling The Hollywood Reporter. "Right? It's a fine joke. I'm teasing Tim Allen."
"But anyone standing next to Tom Hanks, unless it's Dustin Hoffman or Robert Redford or Robert De Niro, that could be me, but it happened to be Tim Allen. And I have nothing against Tim Allen," Gervais explained.
"He's a good actor. He's probably a nice bloke. So even though there's no malice and I can justify it comedically and everyone laughed, I didn't want Tim Allen to think, 'Oh, that was written for me. Why me?' Well, because you were standing next to Tom Hanks," Gervais explained.
While Gervais wanted to make it clear that he wasn't personally attacking Allen, he also stands by his joke and isn't apologizing for it as he mentioned in an interview with Rolling Stone.
"Tom Hanks and Tim Allen, OK, the thing about that gag is, even though Tim Allen is one of the most successful comedic actors in the world, who would look good against Tom Hanks?" Gervais said to the outlet soon after the award ceremony. "That's all I was saying... Actually, Tim Allen might have been taken aback by it and, if so, I'm sorry. But I won't apologize for the joke. The joke is justified. I had no bad intentions!"
Gervais is set to host this year's Golden Globe which airs on Sunday, January 5th. Gervais initially hosted the Golden Globes from 2010 to 2012. He then took a brief hiatus and went back to hosting in 2016. Jimmy Fallon then took over the spot in 2017. Seth Meyer stepped to the plate in 2018 followed by Sandra Oh and Andy Samberg in 2019. Gervais is ready to take on the challenge of hosting again after many award shows have decided to go hostless.
