Ricky Gervais has come under fire for joking about terminally ill children and using the R-word slur in his latest stand-up special for Netflix.
The 62-year-old actor and comedian shared a new clip from his upcoming show, Armageddon, on social media which was quickly hit with furious backlash, including a complaint from former footballer Ashley Cain.
In the video, Gervais tells the audience he’s recently been filming messages for ill children with the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
“I’ve been doing a lot of video messages recently for terminally ill children,” he said.
“Only if they request it, obviously. I don’t burst into hospitals and go, ‘Wake up, baldy. Look at me twerking on TikTok.’”
Read more: Les Dennis ‘saved by Ricky Gervais’ during career woes after Amanda Holden split
Ricky Gervais has come under fire for joking about terminally ill children and using the R-word slur in his latest stand-up special for Netflix.
The 62-year-old actor and comedian shared a new clip from his upcoming show, Armageddon, on social media which was quickly hit with furious backlash.
In the video, Gervais tells the audience he’s recently been filming messages for ill children with the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
“I’ve been doing a lot of video messages recently for terminally ill children,” he said.
“Only if they request it, obviously. I don’t burst into hospitals and go, ‘Wake up, baldy. Look at me twerking on TikTok.’”
Gervais’ next comment enraged social media users when he said he “always [starts] the video the same way.”
“Why didn’t you wish to get better?” he joked in the clip, to a mixed reaction from the crowd. “What, you f**king r****ded as well?”
In the special, the Office star insisted “these are all jokes” and he doesn’t use the R-word in real life.
However, a number of parents of terminally ill children have taken offence to the routine, taking to the comments to criticise the controversial comedian.
“I was actually a fan of Ricky Gervais but after watching his stand up with my family and hearing multiple jokes about terminally ill children and especially kids with cancer I had to turn it off,” former footballer Cain wrote.
“Some things are not funny, especially to the parents that are left behind. You can get cancelled in this world for so much, yet making a mockery of dying children is ok? I’m so mad at this!”
Cain tragically lost his 8-month-old daughter to leukemia in 2021.
“Oof. Just saw a clip of Ricky Gervais’ upcoming Netflix special where he calls a terminally ill child “Baldy” and uses the R-word twice (in just that short clip). You’re getting really hard to defend, man,” another person said on X, formerly Twitter.
Another replied to the clip on Instagram: “Hey Ricky! Wondering if you want to come sit bedside as my 5-year-old daughter receives chemo therapy or contribute to her GoFundMe for endless lifetime medical bills since this is so funny to you.
“I have thick skin but this isn’t a joke. Don’t mock the fact that I may outlive my child.”
A petition calling for Netflix to remove Gervais’ special on Change.org currently has more than 3,500 signatures.
Organiser Sess Cova, who says their child battled cancer, writes: “Ricky Gervais’s jokes were not only distasteful but also heartless.
“They are a slap in the face to not only the children battling these serious illnesses but also their parents and families who stand by them through this difficult journey.
“His words have offended an entire community – those dealing with childhood cancer.”