He has experience in this arena, to be fair
Ricky Gervais has revealed the joke he would have told at the Oscars instead of Chris Rock‘s G.I. Jane-alopecia punchline
The 60-year-old comedian was reportedly testing new material for his upcoming stand-up show in Highgate, north London, when he addressed the story that hasn’t gone away all week, the Mirror reported.
Gervais told the crowd he did not have any Will Smith material but made fun of the fact that he “trended when that happened and I was not even there”.
“People were going ‘What would have happened if Ricky Gervais had been doing it [hosting Oscars]?’
“Well, nothing as I would not have made a joke about his wife’s hair. I would have made a joke about her boyfriend” – we can only assume he was referring to August Alsina her partner during her marriage with Will.
Will and Jada Pinkett-Smith’s personal life has been well publicised in recent years – so much so that people have even petitioned to stop them being interviewed – the most notable of which being Jada’s “entanglement” with the singer back in 2015.
Writing on Twitter earlier in the week, Gervais revealed how he might have potentially opened the show:
"I'm proud to announce that this is the most diverse and progressive Oscars ever. Looking out I see people from all walks of life. Every demographic under the sun. Except poor people, obviously. Fuck them."
— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) March 27, 2022
Putting the talk of Tinseltown to bed, Gervias went on to joke at his show, “this new material is going to be for my new show called Armageddon. I might change that to alopecia”. He then carried on with the rest of his routine.
Even in the comedy world opinions remain pretty divided; while Katherine Ryan simply said, “Can’t take a joke, go home“, Amy Schumer – who co-hosted on the night – said she was “traumatised” by the whole ordeal.
Judging by a previously unseen angle from within the crowd, not only did Will laugh at first but Jada looked as though she laughed following the gag too.
Related links
- People are seriously getting tattoos of Will Smith slapping Chris Rock
- Ricky Gervais: I have to offend even if people don’t like it
- Will Smith was asked to leave Oscars but refused to leave, Academy says