Ricky Gervais doubles down on anti-trans joke: 'I think I'm right'

Ricky Gervais, the English comedian known for his roles in the U.K. version of The Office and his many successful stand-up specials, was recently interviewed by BBC's This Cultural Life. During that conversation, the host asked him about controversial jokes he made in the past, including his bits about trans people. The interviewer, John Wilson, told Gervais that he felt the comedian hadn't "changed in parallel with the times" and "doubled down" on his "anti-woke" crusade.

"That’s probably true, but that’s because I think I’m right," Gervais responded. The interviewer asked him to clarify what he felt he was right about, to which he said, "I have a right to talk about those things. And there are jokes I certainly stand by. I can’t look back and say, ‘Oh, sorry about that, I said that when I was only 50.’” He continued, "As you do get more progressive, maybe, and milder and change, what usually happens is, the things you used to do look worse."

Gervais then cracked a joke saying, "What I do is I try and get more offensive, so when I look back, I go ‘aw wasn’t I kind when I was 45.'"

One of his more controversial jokes about trans people came in his 2022 Netflix special called Special Nature, in which he mocked trans people, saying, "I love the new women. They’re great, aren’t they? The new ones we’ve been seeing lately. The ones with beards and cocks." Gervais goes on to say in the same special that he "supports trans rights," and added, "I support all human rights and trans rights are human rights," before saying, "But meet me halfway, ladies. Lose the cock. That's all I'm saying."

During his conversation with This Cultural Life, the comedian also said that he wouldn't want to rework any of his past material, saying that he's open to putting a trigger warning on some of his older work.