Ricky Gervais has lashed out at celebrities for using their platforms to preach at the public amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In an inte...
Ricky Gervais has lashed out at celebrities for using their platforms to preach at the public amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
In an interview with BBC Radio 5 Live, the 58-year-old comedian began with looking back at the infamous Imagine video filmed by Gal Gadot and her A-list pals.
The Wonder Woman actress enlisted a host of stars to sing the John Lennon classic with her, in a stunt that was branded 'out of touch' by many social media users.
Candid: Ricky Gervais didn't hold back in his latest rant as he lashed out at celebrities for using their platforms to preach during the COVID-19 pandemic
Accepting that it may have been well intentioned, Ricky mused: 'That Imagine video, it's not that bad, they're probably very nice people.
'It was an awful rendition, but they might have been doing it for good reasons, to help these normal nobodies.
'But they're going "My film's coming up and I'm not on telly - I need to be in the public eye", not all of them but some of them.
'You can see in their eye - "I could cry at the beauty of my personality, I'm just so beautiful for doing this" and everyone sees that - we get it.'
Out of touch: The 58-year-old comedian began with looking back at the infamous Imagine video filmed by Gal Gadot and her A-list pals such as Will Ferrell
The After Life star then took aim at stars such as Sam Smith, who have lamented having to self-isolate in their mansions during the crisis.
Rick scoffed: 'For a start, you won't hear me complain - not when there's nurses doing 14 hours shifts - and frontline workers carrying on and risking their health.
'I'm fine. Don't worry about me... I go for walks on Hampstead Heath, and we've got a garden.
'There are people in high rise blocks with three kids - I can't complain, this is why millionaires in their mansions with their gym and going for a swim can't lecture people.
The Derek star concluded: 'People are sick of being lectured, multi-millionaires telling them to clean out their coffee jar and put it in the right bin - they know those celebs are taking private jets to their private islands. They are sick of it.'
Upset: Out of touch: The After Life star then took aim at stars such as Sam Smith, who have lamented having to self-isolate in their mansions during the crisis
Ricky's rant came days after he risked starting a feud with the Beckham family, when he liked a negative tweet about being 'done' with the family.
His interaction with the now-deleted tweet was linked to a story about Victoria's fashion company furloughing 30 members of its staff.
The former Spice Girl has come under sustained criticism for taking advantage of the taxpayer-funded scheme rather than using the family's wealth - estimated to be £335million - to pay staff.
The controversial post obtained by the The Sun which Ricky had 'liked', read: 'The f***ing Beckhams, sorry I'm done with them now. Shame on them.'
The Derek star concluded: 'People are sick of being lectured, multi-millionaires telling them to clean out their coffee jar and put it in the right bin... They are sick of it'
Prior to this, he hit out at celebrities for whining about having to self-isolate while NHS staff risk their lives to battle Covid-19.
Ricky told The Sun: '[NHS staff] are doing 14-hour shifts and not complaining. Wearing masks, and being left with sores, after risking their own health and their families' health selflessly.
'But then I see someone complaining about being in a mansion with a swimming pool. And, you know, honestly, I just don't want to hear it.'
He added with a chuckle: 'I didn't go out much anyway, and there's always too much booze in the house. It's always been the 6pm watershed for as long as I remember. Obviously, I am looking at the watch.'
The comedian's annual hosting of the Golden Globe awards again hit headlines in January, when he told a star-studded Hollywood audience they weren't in a position to 'lecture' the public, and demanded the winners 'come up, accept your little award, thank your agent, and your God and f*** off, OK?'
Speaking of the incident and the way he is perceived in the United States, he told the Telegraph he wasn't 'beholden' to anyone in the room.
He claimed he wasn't powerful and that fellow directors and producers shouldn't be annoyed about 'some little fat Brit', adding: 'I'm speaking up for the millions of people who aren't powerful.'
Oops: Ricky's rant came days after he risked starting a feud with the Beckham family, when he liked a negative tweet about being 'done' with the family
Ricky is currently promoting the second season of his hit Netflix comedy-drama, After Life.
Asked if there was a possibility for series three, Ricky said on Capital Breakfast: 'The answer is, it depends. I would love to do one, for the first time ever I would love to do a third season, but, only if this goes down a storm and Netflix call me and say “you’re mad, you’ve got to do a third season”.
'It’s got to be a really wanted encore. I’m not just going to do it just for the sake of it, to get paid or because they need another 3 hours on their platform.
'It’s got to be really by demand and even then, I’ve got to know, I can make the third season at least as good as the first two and that’s tricky.'
Ricky won't, however, be working on anything to do with the coronavirus crisis.
Asked on Heart Breakfast if he thinks there will be any coronavirus sitcoms in the future, he mused: 'I’m sad to say I think there’ll be about thirty. There must be, there’s probably 19 novels being written now. There’s loads of TV shows. There’s probably one set on a reality show, it’s going to be a glut.
'And I think, did you know that people want to get back to normal. Did you know that in the war, they shot a lot of the war, the Second World War in colour, right. People didn’t know that, but after the war, they decolourized it, to make it look like a bygone era.
'So I think people want, when this is over, I think they want to forget it.'
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