Ricky Gervais Goes on Transphobic Twitter Rant Sparked by J.K. Rowling
Click here to read the full article.
Ricky Gervais is set to return as the host of the Golden Globes in January, but will a recent Twitter rant that mocked the trans community on Friday jeopardize his post? In his brazen tradition, the button-pushing comedian took to the social media platform in defense of this past week’s remarks from J.K. Rowling. The “Harry Potter” author publicly defended a cisgender woman whose consulting contract with a nonprofit wasn’t renewed after she sent out transphobic tweets. Gervais’ tweets were in response to a post by the satirical Twitter account Jarvis Dupont, known for openly mocking overly PC culture from the perspective of white privilege. See below.
“Those awful biological women can never understand what it must be like for you becoming a lovely lady so late in life. They take their girly privileges for granted. Winning at female sports and having their own toilets. Well, enough is enough,” Gervais tweeted. He continued to say, “We need to protect the rights of women. Not erode them because some men have found a new cunning way to dominate and demonise an entire sex.”
More from IndieWire
'Queen & Slim' Director Says Golden Globes Voters Refused to Watch Film: 'It's Infuriating'
The Golden Globes Star-Gazing Continues To Grate -- TV Podcast
Finally, Gervais concluded, “If I’ve said anything transphobic you should report me. Twitter has rules in place to guard against that sort of vile bigotry. My account will be closed down and you’ll be proved right and will have saved millions of lives. Why aren’t you doing this?
The rant was identified by The Advocate. The outlet said that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which puts on the Golden Globes on January 5, did not respond to a request for comment. Back in the late 2018 awards season, would-be Oscar host Kevin Hart stepped down from his post in the wake of furor over homophobic tweets dug up from his past. Whether or not Gervais will suffer a similar fate remains to be seen.
Those awful biological women can never understand what it must be like for you becoming a lovely lady so late in life. They take their girly privileges for granted. Winning at female sports and having their own toilets. Well, enough is enough.
— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) December 20, 2019
Exactly. We need to protect the rights of women. Not erode them because some men have found a new cunning way to dominate and demonise an entire sex.
— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) December 20, 2019
They don’t want to argue. They can’t afford to have their propositions questioned. They want to create a dogma with its own blasphemy laws and the “fatwah” of labelling people bigots to shut them down, ostracise them and even have them fired.
— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) December 20, 2019
But if I’ve said anything transphobic you should report me. Twitter has rules in place to guard against that sort of vile bigotry. My account will be closed down and you’ll be proved right and will have saved millions of lives. Why aren’t you doing this?
— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) December 20, 2019
This is not the first time Gervais has made or come under fire for transphobic remarks. After it was announced that he would be hosting the Golden Globes once again, IndieWire’s Libby Hill wrote about his history of such comments.
Best of IndieWire
Sign up for Indiewire's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
