Ricky Gervais draws backlash for transgender jokes in Netflix spec

Comedian comes under fire following Dave Chappelle criticism and after Netflix earlier this month changed its corporate-culture guidelines.

Ricky Gervais at the Golden Globe Awards in 2020. He came under fire after graphic jokes about the transgender community in a new Netflix Inc. special. Picture: AP

Comedian Ricky Gervais is under fire after he made graphic jokes about the transgender community in his new Netflix special, prompting social-media backlash and calls for people to boycott the streaming service.

About four minutes into the hourlong Netflix special, released Tuesday, Mr Gervais launched into a series of jokes about trans women, including their use of pronouns and public bathrooms.

“I talk about AIDS, famine, cancer, the Holocaust, rape, pedophilia,” Mr Gervais said in his stand-up special, “Ricky Gervais: SuperNature.” “But no, the one thing you mustn’t joke about is identity politics. The one thing you should never joke about is the trans issue. They just want to be treated equally. Right, that’s why I include them.”

Mr Gervais couldn’t be reached for comment. Netflix didn’t respond to requests for comment.

He then made a penis joke.

Dave Chappelle’s Netflix special, ‘The Closer,’ also drew criticism for its jokes about the trans community. Picture: AP

Dave Chappelle’s Netflix special, called “The Closer,” in October drew criticism for its jokes about the trans community. Some Netflix employees were angry about the special and joined protesters outside one of the streaming giant’s offices in Los Angeles last year.

Netflix Co-Chief Executive Ted Sarandos later said he made a mistake and failed to communicate effectively with employees who were hurt by Mr Chappelle’s comments. But he also defended the company’s decision to air the special and said Netflix didn’t have plans to remove it from its platform.

Earlier this month, Netflix updated its work policies for the first time since 2017, telling employees they may have to work on content they don’t agree with or find harmful. If they didn’t like it, those employees could quit, according to the new policy.

The company discussed cultural issues with employees for the past 18 months and added the new language so that prospective employees could decide whether Netflix was the right company for them, Netflix previously said.

For Mr Gervais, the backlash to his special came quickly on social media. He was trending on Twitter on Tuesday.

“To him we exist only as a punchline, a threat, something less than human,” one user tweeted.

Some on social media urged viewers not to watch the special.

“This isn’t comedy,” another user tweeted. “This is making cheap, nasty stereotypes out of a minority group.”

Alexis Rangel, policy counsel for the National Center for Transgender Equality, said jokes about transgender people can lead to discrimination and physical violence.

“Comedians making jokes based on dehumanizing myths about transgender people have no regard for how these falsehoods fuel hate and discrimination against us, or for how that hate translates to very real, very deadly anti-trans violence, particularly for trans youth,” she said. “These jokes aren’t funny, and they can cause a lot more damage than just hurt feelings.”

The Netflix special wasn’t the first time Mr Gervais has publicly joked about trans people. He made a joke about Caitlyn Jenner during the 2016 Golden Globes and in his 2018 stand-up special “Ricky Gervais: Humanity,” also released by Netflix.

The release of the stand-up special comes as 20 states have proposed legislation restricting sex reassignment surgery and other medical procedures for the trans community, according to Freedom for All Americans, an advocacy group that pushes for protection against discrimination for trans people. An Alabama law went into effect earlier this month that bans gender-affirming puberty blockers and hormones to transgender people under age 19.

A little more than halfway through the comedy special, Mr Gervais also said he supports the rights of trans people.

“Full disclosure: In real life of course I support trans rights,” he said. “I support all human rights, and trans rights are human rights. Live your best life. Use your preferred pronouns. Be the gender that you feel you are.”

The Wall Street Journal