Netflix once again find themselves in hot water with the public, after several jokes made in their new Ricky Gervais special aimed at the trans community led to backlash online.
Having already received plenty of public ire over similar jokes made in Dave Chappelle’s stand-up special on their platform, including a callout by renowned comedian Hannah Gatsby, Netflix are once again in trouble with their audience after the launch of their new special featuring Gervais launched in Australia yesterday.
Gervais, who is best known for his work on shows such as Afterlife and the British version of The Office, has been the subject of public ire multiple times during his stand-up career thanks to his somewhat provocative style of comedy and material.
This time, both Netflix and Gervais are in trouble with the LGBTQIA+ community due to several lengthy jokes made targeting trans women and the queer community as a whole.
“I love the new women,” quips Gervais. “They’re great, aren’t they? The new ones we’ve been seeing lately. The ones with beards and cocks. They’re as good as gold, I love them.”
The comic then spent some time discussing the recent debate surrounding trans people using bathrooms that represent their identified gender, as well as how people will jump to cancelling someone on Twitter for old jokes made many years prior.
The special has sparked fierce debate on Twitter, with some people ridiculing Gervais for using a minority group such as the trans community for laughs in the era of Dave Chapel being cancelled for similar comments, while others are praising him for speaking out about his beliefs and supporting the ‘IDGAF+ community’.
https://twitter.com/discount_Ripley/status/1529026025216266240?s=20&t=TTrUlEmSRU_e-X_ry4nrYQ
https://twitter.com/scrowder/status/1529142100884955136?s=20&t=TTrUlEmSRU_e-X_ry4nrYQ
nothing to say about ricky gervais that james acaster hasn’t already said https://t.co/ahsnteVfSy pic.twitter.com/nJhasyWrU9
— ruth (@ruth_walshe) May 24, 2022
Netflix have yet to release an official response to the backlash, despite previously being subject to labour complaints filed against them by their own employees after the issues surrounding their Dave Chappelle special last year.
