Ricky Gervais says he wants to 'try and get canceled' through his new stand-up show — and that no subject should be off limits in comedy
Comedian Ricky Gervais declared he wants to "try and get canceled" through his new stand-up show "Armageddon," Yahoo Entertainment reported.
"I’m treating it like it’s my last one ever. It won’t be, but I want to put everything into it. I want to try and get canceled ... I just want to go all out there," Gervais said, according to the outlet, which cited Heat magazine.
The relentlessly irreverent 60-year-old added his new show is "about the end of the world and how we’re going to destroy ourselves for lots of reasons, whether it’s media stupidity or the actual end of the world," Yahoo Entertainment reported.
Interestingly, a little more than a year ago Gervais vowed never to fall victim to cancel culture, saying during a podcast it's akin to "road rage."
"What is being canceled? It's having no platform. And what can they do to me? Who's gonna cancel me? Twitter? YouTube?" the British comic noted. "If I have to, I'll go to Hyde Park and stand up on a bench and shout s**t."
No limits in comedy
And in a Monday interview with the Wall Street Journal, Gervais explored the idea of whether comedy should have limits — and, you guessed, he said "no."
“There’s no subject you shouldn’t joke about,” he told the Journal. “It depends on the joke. As a journalist, there’s nothing you wouldn’t write about. It depends on your angle, right? I think a lot of this pious offense comes from people mistaking the target of the joke with the subject. You can joke about anything, but it depends on what the actual target is. If you use irony and people see that at face value and think you’re saying one thing, but you’re actually saying the opposite."
Gervais added to the paper that "even the critical thinkers, if it’s a subject that’s personal to them, they can’t see the wood for the trees, they can’t see objectively. People laugh at 19 of the terrible subjects I joke about, but not the 20th because that affects them.”
The Journal also asked him about his reaction to “the Golden Globes being essentially reduced to a live blog this year." And Gervais — who shocked many with his take-no-prisoners monologue that massacred left-wing celebrity culture during the 2020 iteration of the awards show — replied that he doesn't watch such programming.
'How dare he insult the most important people in the world?'
“The only time I’ve ever seen an awards show was one that I’m at,” he told the paper. “I’m either winning or losing an award or presenting it. They’re fun for the industry, you know? The first time I [hosted] the Golden Globes — I did it five times over 10 years — it was palpable. People were going, 'Who does he think he is? How dare he insult the most important people in the world?' Over that 10-year period, the world changed. By the last time I did it, it was very different. I kept doing my thing and now people were going, ‘Yeah, give it to them. We hate celebrities. We’re tired of being told what to do by people with everything. We’re tired of being told to recycle when we know they got there in their private jet or limo.'”
Here's a look back at Gervais' unforgettable address to the glittery and glamorous that night two years ago. (Content warning: Language):
Ricky Gervais – Golden Globes 2020 (Uncensored, HD)youtu.be
(H/T: The Daily Wire)
Denzel Washington rejects Hollywood's diversity obsession, says it 'shouldn't even be mentioned'
Academy Award-winning actor Denzel Washington appeared to brush off Hollywood's obsession with diversity in a recent media interview, suggesting the buzzword "shouldn't even be mentioned" when promoting works of art.
The legendary movie star took a decidedly more color-blind approach to arts and entertainment than the one espoused by modern progressive "anti-racism" advocates while discussing his new film, “The Tragedy of Macbeth," which is a stripped-down retelling of the Shakespearean classic.
“Obviously we are diverse, so I think that’s a great thing,” Washington told NBC BLK, a news segment devoted to the African-American perspective, during a roundtable meeting with other media outlets.
But then he added: “You know, in my humble opinion, we ought to be at a place where diversity shouldn’t even be mentioned, like it’s something special. These young kids — black, white, blue, green, or whatever — are highly talented and qualified. So that’s why they’re there.”
Of course, the actor acknowledged the topic of diversity was bound to come up given the film's diverse cast, headlined by Washington. In the Joel Coen-directed film, Washington plays the lead character, Macbeth, a troubled Scottish lord who plots with his wife to murder the king and seize the throne.
But Washington seemed to rebuff society's fixation on race over and above everything else, at times to the detriment of showcasing people's talents and abilities.
Reporting on the news, Newsbusters noted that the actor's words served as a "powerful reminder" of Martin Luther King Jr.’s "I Have a Dream" speech.
During the famous speech, King stated, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
Washington, a widely respected American figure, has made countercultural statements in the past.
Early last year, as widespread anti-police sentiment swept the nation, Washington threw his public support behind law enforcement, saying, "I have the utmost respect for what they do, for what our soldiers do, [people] that sacrifice their lives," Washington answered.
"I just don't care for people who put those kind of people down," he continued. "If it weren't for them, we would not have the freedom to complain about what they do."
Then in December, Washington, an outspoken Christian, turned a New York Times interview into a full-throated sermon, explaining that sin is the root cause of all division and lightly suggesting that his interviewer read the Bible to experience how deeply it relates to her life.
Far-left actor Mark Ruffalo apologizes for accusing Israel of 'genocide'
Far-left actor Mark Ruffalo, best known for playing "The Hulk" in Disney's Marvel Cinematic Universe, apologized on Tuesday for making social media posts that accused Israel of committing "genocide" amid the conflict between the world's lone Jewish state and the terrorist group Hamas.
"I have reflected & wanted to apologize for posts during the recent Israel/Hamas fighting that suggested Israel is committing 'genocide,'" Ruffalo tweeted. "It's not accurate, it's inflammatory, disrespectful & is being used to justify antisemitism here & abroad. Now is the time to avoid hyperbole."
I have reflected & wanted to apologize for posts during the recent Israel/Hamas fighting that suggested Israel is c… https://t.co/YJ0DPBpKzf
— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) 1621911387.0
Ruffalo's apology follows a recent increase in hate crimes committed against Jews in the United States and abroad in the weeks of renewed conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. In several recent social media posts, Ruffalo took the Palestinians' side, comparing Israeli treatment of the Palestinians to apartheid in South Africa.
1500 Palestinians face expulsion in #Jerusalem. 200 protesters have been injured. 9 children have been killed. Sanc… https://t.co/n3FUsv6fME
— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) 1620738353.0
"1500 Palestinians face expulsion in #Jerusalem," Ruffalo wrote on May 11, sharing a petition that called for international sanctions against the Israeli government. "200 protesters have been injured. 9 children have been killed. Sanctions on South Africa helped free its black people – it's time for sanctions on Israel to free Palestinians. Join the call."
After 11 days of violence, with Hamas terrorists targeting Israeli civilians with rocket attacks and the Israeli Defense Forces responding with airstrikes in Gaza, Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire last Friday. Palestinian officials reported that 248 people were killed in Gaza, including women and children. On the Israeli side, 13 people were killed — a seemingly disproportionate number of casualties that can be attributed to Israel's Iron Dome defense system protecting Israelis while Hamas fighters position tunnels, rocket launchers, and command and control infrastructure in close proximity to Palestinian civilians.
It is unclear when Ruffalo shared a social media post accusing Israel of "genocide", but after his apology a vocal segment of his 7.5 million followers on social media accused him of moderating his support for the Palestinians. Some suggested that Disney, which owns Marvel Studios, forced him to make an apology.
While Disney's involvement is pure speculation, it would not be the first time the House of Mouse cracked down on one of its stars for controversial social media posts. In February, Disney fired "The Mandalorian" actress Gina Carano after a social media campaign demanded she lose her job for making a controversial Instagram post that compared censorship of conservative points of view and cancel culture to the Holocaust.
Ruffalo posting that Israel is committing "genocide" is at least as controversial as Carano's Holocaust post. But Disney has not yet responded to the tweet from its bigger star, at least not publicly.
From Hollywood liberal to proud Trump-supporter, Comedian Nicole Arbour on why she left the Left
Comedian and social media influencer Nicole Arbour has quite the transformation story: She has an honorary star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, had her own Sports Illustrated calendar, and saw the hypocrisy of Hollywood's elites firsthand. Now, she's a proud Trump supporter.
Nicole joined Glenn Beck on the radio program to talk about her journey, the "super power" of having nothing to hide, and the story of the first time she noticed that the Hollywood crowd isn't who they say they are.
Watch the video below to catch more of the conversation:
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'What's the opposite of a**hole?': How this liberal comedian became a Trump supporter
In this episode of "The Rubin Report," Dave Rubin talks to comedian Nicole Arbour about why she left the Left, her experiences with horrible fake celebrities, and why she doesn't fear Big Tech social media censorship.
Nicole shared a story of how Hillary Clinton's campaign team tried to frame her as a Hillary supporter before the 2016 election. She also gives her unfiltered opinion on David Hogg, the gun control activist who survived the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida.
She also shared her political evolution and why she decided to walk away from the Left after she got to know some President Donald Trump supporters and spent a bit too much time around hypocritical Hollywood liberals.
"I started to see the unraveling of everything I've been taught," Nicole told Dave. "I mean, you go to enough parties in Hollywood and you learn they're all douchebags. [...] I started to see that every single thing these people pretend they are, they're actually the opposite. And I thought, 'What's the opposite of a**hole? I want to go that way'."
Catch more of the conversation in the video below:
Content warning: Explicit language
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