British comedian Ricky Gervais is no stranger to controversy, and now he has found himself in hot water again after making an inappropriate joke during a recent show on his Humanity tour in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
While specifics of the joke aren’t known, it reportedly involved the subject ‘dead babies’ and caused two bereaved parents walk out of his show.
According to Belfast Live, Suzi and Ryan Gourley, who lost their newborn son last July and attended the show as their first night out since losing their baby boy, described the joke as so offensive “(you) wouldn’t have expected (it) in a million years from anybody”.
“I just think ‘Why? What is the need?’ This is our life — we have no choice but to live with this,” Ms Gourley continued. “I know people take things differently and I know our emotions are raw, but why joke about a baby being dead? It’s just wrong.”
“Some people might read this and think we’re over sensitive and maybe we are – but it’s just not funny.”
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Non-profit group Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Support took to Facebook to issue a warning about the comedian’s show on Facebook, warning any grieving parents to give it a miss.
I hope this isnt true @rickygervais a dead child is not something to be made a joke off, @SandsUK xxx pic.twitter.com/411uWrgjzK
— chloe dillon (@chloewalker10) March 29, 2017
Gervais has since taken to Twitter to defend his joke in a series of posts on Twitter.
Offence often occurs when people mistake the subject of a joke with the actual target. They're not always the same.
— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) March 30, 2017
Jokes about "bad things" don't have to necessarily be pro those bad things. Surely, a joke that's anti bad things is a good thing, no?
— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) March 30, 2017
Basically, offence is about feelings, and feelings are personal. People simply don't like being reminded of bad things.
— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) March 30, 2017
All jokes should be banned in case anyone is offended. Discuss.
— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) March 30, 2017
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I wish I had a pound for every time I offended someone. Wait, I do.
— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) March 30, 2017
Me: Why did the chicken cross the road?
— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) March 30, 2017
*Kid starts crying
Me: What's wrong?
Kid: My chicken got run over yesterday.
Me: Sorry kid.
This article was published by the team at marie claire Australia.
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