Ricky Gervais has been praised for hitting out at cancel culture in new Netflix show SuperNature by joking about ‘old fashioned’ and ‘new women with beards and c**ks’ as fans call it his ‘funniest stand-up ever’.
The comedian, 60, starts the show by describing comedy to the audience as ‘basically a bloke talking’, before purposely failing to recall any ‘funny female comedians’.
And just minutes into his opening monologue, Gervais yawns to the crowd as he talks about ‘those old-fashioned women, you know, with wombs’.
Talking to the audience about cancel culture and the transgender issues, he says: ‘Ah women. Not all women, I mean the old-fashioned women, you know the ones with wombs? Those f***ing dinosaurs.
‘I love the new women. They’re great, aren’t they? The new ones we’ve been seeing lately. The ones with beards and c***s. They’re as good as gold, I love them.
‘And now the old-fashioned ones say “oh, they want to use our toilets”. Why shouldn’t they use your toilets? For ladies! They are ladies — look at their pronouns!’
Acting out a discussion, he adds: ‘What about this person isn’t a lady? “Well, his penis.” Her penis, you f***ing bigot! “What if he rapes me?’ What if she rapes you, you f***ing TERF w***e?’
Discussing Kevin Hart’s decision to remove himself from hosting the Oscars in 2018 after historical homophobic tweets emerged, Gervais continues: ‘You can’t predict what will be offensive in the future. You don’t know who the dominant mob will be.
The comedian, 60, starts the show by describing comedy to the audience as ‘basically a bloke talking’, before purposely failing to recall any ‘funny female comedians’
Gervais’ jokes regarding trans people and cancel culture have been met with criticism on Twitter, with viewers describing it as ‘bigoted hatred’
‘Like, the worst thing you can say today, get you cancelled on Twitter, death threats, the worst thing you can say today is, “Women don’t have penises”, right?
‘Now, no one saw that coming. You won’t find a ten-year-old tweet saying “Women don’t have penises.” You know why? We didn’t think we f***ing had to!’
And in another joke towards the end of the show in which he addresses self identity, Gervais says he supports trans rights – a remark met by cheers by a few members of the audience.
He adds: ‘Full disclosure. In real life, of course I support trans rights. 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 that you are. But meet me halfway ladies, lose the c**k, that’s all I’m saying.’
The remarks have been met with ire from the usual suspects on social media.
One viewer said on Twitter: ‘Netflix, care to comment on the bigoted hatred? Platforming hate, be it racism, homophobia, sexism OR transphobia is wrong!
‘So why air Ricky Gervais’ bigotry? Why encourage others to target trans people with these “jokes”. It’s NOT edgy, its NOT controversial, IT’S HATE. STOP!’
Another said: ‘Ricky Gervais has a new stand up show out on Netflix today. 5 minutes in and he’s making jokes about trans women attacking & raping people in public bathrooms.
‘To him we exist only as a punchline, a threat, something less than human.’
A third added: ‘Ricky Gervais is a disgrace, he is going to cause hate crime and ultimately the death of Trans folk. Anyone who needs to vilify minorities to get a laugh is the most evil hateful soul and seriously needs mental help.’
The British comedian didn’t hold back in the programme and also joked about ‘taboo’ subjects including Hitler, famine and AIDS.
But despite the controversial topics mentioned in the special, which was filmed on his most recent tour, many fans rushed to Twitter to praise the comic.
One wrote: ‘I’m not even 10 minutes into #SuperNature and this is hands down the funniest comedy special I’ve ever seen.
But some viewers have rushed to Twitter to praise the comic, despite the controversial topics discussed in the Netflix comedy special
Another said on Twitter: ‘I can’t remember the last time I laughed out loud as much at a stand up show as I am currently at SuperNature. Ricky Gervais, absolutely brilliant.’
A second wrote: The bloke never fails! Another masterpiece from Ricky Gervais with #SuperNature. Absolute National Treasure.’
A third added: ‘SuperNature was brilliant. Your comedic perspective is the perfect antidote to taking this crazy world too seriously.’
A fourth wrote: ‘Howled for the last 64 minutes. Tears rolling down my cheeks. It’s been worth waiting for! Just brilliant!’
It comes after Jimmy Carr faced criticism in February earlier this year after it emerged that he joked about the deaths of six millions Jews in the Holocaust.
The comedian received a barrage of uproar in over a clip from his Netflix special which saw him joke that the ‘thousands of gypsies killed by the Nazis’ was a ‘positive’ consequence of the Holocaust.
In the Netflix footage, the 8 Out of 10 Cats presenter said: ‘When people talk about the Holocaust, they talk about the tragedy and horror of six million Jewish lives being lost to the Nazi war machine. But they never mention the thousands of gypsies that were killed by the Nazis. No one ever talks about that because no one wants to talk about the positives.’
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s spokesman branded the joke ‘unacceptable’, while Health Secretary Sajid Javid urged people to boycott the one-hour special.
Jewish comedian David Baddiel, 57, was also among swathes of other people to slam Jimmy over the gag.
David said: ‘You can obviously tell a Holocaust joke that is cruel and inhumane and mean-spirited and racist.
‘Or you can tell one that targets the oppressors, or draws attention to the fundamental evil of it, or shines and light on the humanity of the victims.
‘It’s not the subject matter of the joke that counts, it’s the specifics of the individual joke. Clearly, Jimmy Carr’s was the former.’
Meanwhile, Conservative MP and Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries told BBC News that the gag was ‘abhorrent’.