Ricky Gervais Receives Backlash Over Transphobic Jokes In His New Netflix Special 'SuperNature'

British comedian Ricky Gervais just released his new Netflix comedy special not up to 24 hours ago, and there is already huge criticism and intense backlash from the trans and LGBTQ+ community for several jokes he made.

According to Netflix, the special titled “SuperNature” covers Gervais’ opinions on “the rules of comedy, his spoilt cats, and how super actual nature is,” but according to critics on social media, Gervais filled a lot of his time with graphic and demeaning transphobic jokes. 

Many viewers criticized Netflix for allegedly supporting transphobes, which is a reference to comedian Dave Chapelle’s earlier special, which also received criticism.

Read on to find out more.

Less than five minutes into the start of the special, Gervais (via Variety)started talking about trans people. He said, “Oh, women! Not all women, I mean the old-fashioned ones. The old-fashioned women, the ones with wombs. Those fucking dinosaurs.”

“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. They’re as good as gold, I love them. And now the old-fashioned ones say, ‘Oh, they want to use our toilets.’ ‘Why shouldn’t they use your toilets?’ ‘For ladies!’ ‘They are ladies — look at their pronouns!”

“What about this person isn’t a lady?’ ‘Well, his penis.’ ‘Her penis, you f--king bigot!’ ‘What if he rapes me?’ ‘What if she rapes you, you fucking TERF whore?’” TERF, meaning Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist, is a term that references people who refuse to accept that trans women are women.

Not long after those jokes, Gervais switched to the topic of comedian Kevin Hart stepping down as an Oscars host in 2018 due to backlash over old tweets that were considered homophobic. He used this to make more jokes about the trans community and cancel culture. 

He said, “You can’t predict what will be offensive in the future. You don’t know who the dominant mob will be. Like, the worst thing you can say today, get you canceled on Twitter, death threats, the worst thing you can say today is, ‘Women don’t have penises,’ right? Now, no one saw that coming. You won’t find a ten-year-old tweet of someone saying, ‘Women don’t have penises.’ You know why? We didn’t think we f--king had to!”

As the special wrapped up, Gervais gave some insight into his jokes. He said, “Full disclosure: In real life of course I support trans rights. I support all human rights, and trans rights are human rights. Live your best life. Use your preferred pronouns. Be the gender that you feel that you are. But meet me halfway, ladies: Lose the cock. That’s all I’m saying.”

Shortly after the special premiered, many viewers took to Twitter to discuss the jokes. Some defended Gervais’ statements and opinions, while others, such as trans allies and trans people, urged their followers and Twitter users to boycott the special and Netflix for giving Gervais a platform.

https://twitter.com/Gobias___/status/1529039226024693761?s=20&t=DTISgHN0GBn_WI-tKO0yUA

One comment read, “Ricky Gervais is a disgrace, he is going to cause hate crime and ultimately the death of Trans folk. Anyone who needs to vilify minorities to get a laugh is the most evil hateful soul and seriously needs mental help.”

Another person tweeted, “Ricky Gervais could go after the governments, banks, billionaires. The ones causing actual harm to ordinary people all over the world on an unfathomable scale every single day. But he goes after trans people instead. Yeah Ricky, son, you speak your truth to power. Coward.”

Several times during the special, Gervais also touched on cancel culture, which he said has affected several actors and comedians like Hart, Liam Neeson, and Louis C.K., although all three men still have flourishing careers in their fields. 

Cancel culture is one thing Netflix is already familiar with, as many people are trying to cancel the streaming platform for Gervais’ special, quite similar to what happened last year after Chappelle released his own standup special, titled “The Closer,” which contained several transphobic jokes.