Why Ricky Gervais Won't Be Watching the Oscars (Exclusive)

"I am forbidden to work on The Sabbath," he tells The Hollywood Reporter.

Golden Globes host Ricky Gervais will not be watching Sunday's Oscar telecast, he tells The Hollywood Reporter.

"I am forbidden to work on The Sabbath," he says in an email.

Gervais, an atheist who hosted the Golden Globes on a Sunday, gave suggested material to Oscar host Anne Hathaway and James Franco on his blog Thursday.

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"I hope my contribution will be helpful to the organizers of The Academy," he tells THR. "I won't know if they use any of my material or not, as I will be unable to watch the ceremony this Sunday."

The comedian says he tried to get an exception to the Sabbath rule. "I pleaded with my Bishop 'But surely watching The Oscars counts as pleasure.' "

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"My Bishop replied 'Then you are a bigger cunt than you look my son' "

Gervais drew significant controversy from his Golden Globe hosting duties, an event which he continues to take pride in. Here's a portion of the suggested script that Gervais gave to the Oscar hosts on his blog.

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Hathaway: "No comedians tonight. And do you know why? Because comics are ugly."

Franco: "Especially that rude obnoxious one who played the Steve Carell part in the English remake of The Office."

"But you can all relax because Ricky Gervais is in London…" adds Hathaway. "He's doing some charity work. Yeah, he's visiting orphans with cancer. He's telling them what bald little losers they are…."