Ricky Gervais will not be banned from the Golden Globes, despite the controversy over his hilariously rude hosting of Sunday’s ceremony. Globe Awards organisers, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, has said (perhaps through gritted teeth) that it “loved” Gervais’ performance while the comedian himself called the show “great”.
Brit funny-man Ricky Gervais riled many of Hollywood’s rich and famous with a string of close-to-the-bone gags as he hosted the Golden Globes 2011 and rumours have been circulating that Gervais would be banned from future shows.
In particular, Gervais introduced Hollywood Foreign Press Association HFPA president Philip Berk with the words: “I just had to help him off the toilet and pop his teeth in.”
However, the HFPA has issued a statement saying that although Gervais went “too far”, overall, it was just delighted with the slagging it received from Ricky.
“We loved the show. It was a lot of fun and obviously has a lot of people talking. When you hire a comedian like Ricky Gervais, one expects in your face, sometimes outrageous material.
“Certainly, in this case, he pushed the envelope and occasionally went too far. The HFPA would never condone some of his personal remarks. Overall, however, the show was among the best we’ve ever had and we were pleased,” it said.
Rickey Gervias himself has hit back at rumours that he was given a talking to backstage when he disappeared from stage for nearly an hour during the Golden Globes.
“I did every single introduction I was meant to. There just happened to be a long gap.
“I was allowed to choose who I would introduce in advance. I obviously chose presenters who I had the best jokes for, and who I knew had a good sense of humour,” Gervais said.
Gervais left few on his Hollywood hate-list unscathed. Some gems include:
“Nothing for Sex & The City Two. No? I was sure the Golden Globe for special effects would go to the team that aired that poster. Great job. Girls! We know how old you are! I saw one of you in an episode of Bonanza.”
“Seems like everything this year was three dimensional. Except the characters in The Tourist.”
“It’s going to be a night of partying and heavy drinking. Or, as Charlie Sheen calls it, breakfast.”
Some newspapers had hard words for Gervais yesterday.
“Those jokes might have seemed just slightly redundant and dated if the audience hadn’t also clearly found them tasteless bordering on nasty,” said The New York Daily News.
“It quickly became clear that his material wasn’t just falling flat, it was making many audience members and presenters uncomfortable and even angry,” the Los Angeles Times wrote.
However, Gervais had some fans. Despite being referred to as “Ashton Kutcher’s dad”, Bruce Willis told the Daily Mirror that the Globes host was “fantastic”.
For his part, Gervais denied rumours that there had been a backstage showdown.
“Everyone took it well and the atmosphere backstage and at the after show was great,” he said.
