Ricky Gervais Slams Celebrity Woke Culture During Golden Globes Monologue
The awards show host didn’t pull any punches, accusing the stars in the crowd of being “fake woke”
At Sunday’s 77th annual Golden Globes, Office creator Ricky Gervais took the stage for the fifth time as emcee of the evening. And while everyone surely expected the comedian to stay true-to-form with a bit of biting commentary, at least one line in his opening monologue seemed to catch the crowd off-guard — the moment when he accused the famous faces in the audience of false piety and effectively told them to stay in their lane.
Among other things, Gervais begged celebs not to use their platform to make a political speech. “You’re in no position to lecture the public about anything,” he said. “You know nothing about the real world.”
Rolling with the distinctly uncomfortable (and intentional) hosting style he’s become known for, Gervais kicked off his monologue by taking aim at a few predictable targets. He poked fun at Felicity Huffman’s two-week jail stint for her role in the college admissions scandal. He compared Joe Pesci to Baby Yoda. He wincingly joked that every star in the room was afraid of Ronan Farrow and “it was a big year for pedophile movies.”
Later in the speech, he got a rise out of Leonardo DiCaprio by riffing on DiCaprio’s oft-discussed track record of dating younger women.
“The Irishman was amazing. It was amazing. It was great. Long, but amazing. It wasn’t the only epic movie. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, nearly three hours long,” Gervais stared, quipping, “Leonardo DiCaprio attended the premiere and by the end, his date was too old for him. Even Prince Andrew was like, ‘Come on, Leo, mate. You’re nearly 50-something.'”
As it turns out, all of the seemingly random acerbic jabs were building up to one major point.
“Apple roared into the TV game with The Morning Show, a superb drama about the importance of dignity and doing the right thing, made by a company that runs sweatshops in China. Well, you say you’re woke, but the companies you work for… unbelievable. Apple, Amazon, Disney. If ISIS started a streaming service, you’d call your agent, wouldn’t you?” he rhetorically asked before dropping the central thesis to his opening monologue.
“So, if you do win an award tonight, don’t use it as a platform to make a political speech,” Gervais said. “You’re in no position to lecture the public about anything. You know nothing about the real world. Most of you spent less time in school than Greta Thunberg. So, if you win, come up, accept your little award, thank your agent and your God, and fuck off, OK?” ICYMI, the entire bit was heavily bleeped.
Gervais’ hosting, in general, has garnered its fair share of water-cooler conversation on the internet Monday morning. But his celebrity woke culture remarks have gone viral — along with celebrities’ reaction to them.
In particular, Tom Hanks’ facial expression when Gervais accused stars of fake wokeness is really making the rounds.
Such a no-holds-barred approach might seem risky, but Gervais literally kicked off his opening monologue by pointing out he won’t be back on the Golden Globes stage in this capacity anyway. “You’ll be pleased to know this is the last time I’m hosting these awards, so I don’t care anymore. I’m joking. I never did,” he deadpanned.
