Ricky Gervais Defends Himself After AIDS Joke Controversy
Comedian Ricky Gervais has moved to defend himself after he made a controversial joke about AIDS on Twitter earlier this week, angering a substantial part of social media as it spread.
The 55 year old former star of ‘The Office’ sparked outrage when he answered a popular Twitter meme that asked “things you can say both during sex and during a funeral” by replying with “AIDS?” on Tuesday (June 20th).
“This is legit asked of me every time a friend dies, which is ignorant, offensive and not f****** funny,” one irate Twitter user wrote. “The idea that you think AIDS is a death sentence is as dated as your comedy, Ricky,” wrote the editor of Gay Times Magazine Ryan John Butcher.
However, the only comment that actually prompted a reply from Gervais himself came from the official account of the National AIDS Trust.
More: Ricky Gervais defends himself over ‘dead baby’ joke
“Nice,” they wrote. "Why let accuracy about HIV get in the way of having a pop at an already very stigmatised group of people?! #keepingitclassy.”
“You mean, why aren't jokes factually accurate?,” Gervais replied. “Because they're jokes. I don't hold the same world view as my jokes. Most people get that.”
AIDS? pic.twitter.com/KSMIjidCji
— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) June 20, 2017
Gervais has frequently made his stance on free speech, comedy and causing offence clear throughout his career. Back in March this year while on his latest stand-up tour, he responded to a similar controversy he had stirred up when a grieving couple walked out of his Belfast show after he made a joke about dead babies.
“'Is there any subject you shouldn't joke about?' is no less ridiculous a question than ‘is there any subject you shouldn't talk about?’” he wrote back then, adding that “offence as the collateral damage of free speech.”
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