Ricky Gervais is standing by the Caitlyn Jenner joke he made during his Golden Globes opening monologue.

The sharp-tongued host, who promised to be nicer as he emceed the awards show for the fourth time on Sunday, threw a barb at the former Olympian that drew ire and was dubbed transphobic.

“I’ve changed. Not as much as Bruce Jenner, obviously. Now Caitlyn Jenner, of course. What a year she’s had. She became a role model for trans people everywhere, showing great bravery in breaking down barriers and destroying stereotypes,” he said, before referring to her fatal February 2015 car accident. “She didn’t do a lot for women drivers, but you can’t have everything, can ya?”


And in defending himself on Tuesday, he threw another public figure under the bus.

“Suggesting a joke about Caitlin Jenner is automatically transphobic is like suggesting a joke about Bill Cosby is automatically racist,” Gervais wrote, referring to “The Cosby Show” star’s sexual assault scandals.

Suggesting a joke about Caitlin Jenner is automatically transphobic is like suggesting a joke about Bill Cosby is automatically racist. — Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) January 12, 2016

Still, people took issue with the slight against Jenner, which “The Office” alum framed as a joke about her driving, not her transition into a woman.


“But it WAS Bruce Jenner who changed. Into Caitlyn Jenner. And I respect that. Just not her driving,” he said in response to a follower. He then tweeted: “I made a joke about Caitlyn Jenner killing someone in her car. I’m #TransportPhobic.”

Gervais’ monologue and controversial antics throughout the show swiped at Jenner, Cosby, Mel Gibson and others, as well as the gender pay gap in Hollywood, despite his promise to go easier on his subjects. In all, the NBC telecast brought in about 18.5 million viewers, a dip of about 5% from last year’s show, which was hosted by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.

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But the “Derek” star didn’t stop at his Jenner joke on Tuesday. He also launched into a diatribe about offending people and not apologizing for his jokes, saying that he loves it when Twitter users argue and in the future, everyone will be offended by him “for 15 minutes.”


“You have every right to be offended. Just don’t cry when no one cares,” he added.

Then in a series of tweets, and using saltier language, he said that hosting the Globes made him want to go back to stand-up comedy, which would be where people are “allowed to be offended.”

1 / 55 Comedian and host Ricky Gervais opened the show with jokes that made some laugh hysterically, and others cringe. (Paul Drinkwater / Associated Press) 2 / 55 Jennifer Lawrence accepts the award for actress in a motion picture comedy for her role in “Joy.” “Every time I’m up here, it’s because of you,” Lawrence said of her director David O. Russell. (Paul Drinkwater / Associated Press) 3 / 55 As predicted by many movie critics and columnists, Leonardo DiCaprio took home the award for actor in a motion picture for his work in “The Revenant.”

(Getty Images) 4 / 55 Amy Adams is all smiles as she presents an award onstage. (Paul Drinkwater / NBC) 5 / 55 Presenters Ryan Gosling and Brad Pitt have a moment onstage as Gosling makes it known that he thought he was presenting by himself. Gosling soon after introduces their film “The Big Short.” (Paul Drinkwater/NBCUniversal ) 6 / 55 In the final award of the night, Alejandro G. Inarritu accepts the honor for motion picture drama for his film “The Revenant.” (Paul Drinkwater / Associated Press) 7 / 55 Brie Larson accepts the award for actress in a motion picture drama for her role in “Room.” After a long list of folks to shout out, she said, “I’m sorry to anyone I forgot, I’ll write you a thank you card.” (Paul Drinkwater / Associated Press) 8 / 55 Presenter Tom Hanks, who has worked with Denzel Washington in the past, offers a heartfelt speech about the actor before inviting him onstage. (Paul Drinkwater / NBCUniversal) 9 / 55 Denzel Washington, far left, stands with his wife, Pauletta, and his family as he accepts the Cecil B. Demille Award. Though he forgot his glasses, he got through his speech just fine. (Paul Drinkwater / NBC) 10 / 55 Lily James and Jamie Foxx present the award onstage for original score, with Foxx announcing the winner as “Straight Outta Compton” a la Steve Harvey’s Miss Universe flub. The real winner was Ennio Moriconne for “The Hateful Eight.” (Paul Drinkwater / NBC) 11 / 55 Director Quentin Tarantino accepts the award for original score for “The Hateful Eight” on behalf of Ennio Morricone. And just for the record, Morricone had won two Golden Globes before Sunday’s awards. (Paul Drinkwater / NBCUniversal ) 12 / 55 Lady Gaga accepts the award for actress in a limited series or TV movie for her role in “American Horror Story: Hotel.” She shared her win with the talented cast: “Because of you I was able to shine, I guess. Thank you for sharing your talent.” This was her first nomination and first win. (Paul Drinkwater / NBC) 13 / 55 Matt Damon introduces “The Martian,” nominated for best comedy. Damon went on to win the actor in a comedy award for his starring role in the film. (Paul Drinkwater / NBC) 14 / 55 Katy Perry announces the nominees for the original song award. (Paul Drinkwater / NBC) 15 / 55 Sam Smith, right, said he was completely shocked to receive the award for original song for “Writing’s on the Wall” from the film “Spectre.” (Paul Drinkwater / NBC) 16 / 55 Are Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum going back undercover for a new “21 Jump Street”? No, that’s just the presenters having some “Revenant” fun. (Paul Drinkwater / NBCUniversal ) 17 / 55 As Taraji P. Henson walked to the stage to accept her award for actress in a TV drama, she passed out cookies to those around her, including one to Lady Gaga. “Cookies for everyone tonight, my treat,” she said for her winning role playing a character named Cookie in “Empire.” And just as she was asked to wrap up her speech, she refused. “I waited 20 years for this,” Henson said. (Paul Drinkwater / Associated Press) 18 / 55 Presenters Amber Heard and Jaimie Alexander have a minor flub onstage as they have difficulties seeing the teleprompter. (Paul Drinkwater / NBCUniversal ) 19 / 55 “Last time I was here, it was 1977 and I was kind of hit by tumbleweed. It was a different situation. And the view is so beautiful now,” Sylvester Stallone says, as he accepts the award for supporting actor for “Creed.” (Paul Drinkwater/NBCUniversal) 20 / 55 Hello Gina Rodriguez and Eva Mendes! Actually, make that America Ferrera and Eva Longoria -- who as presenters delivered a genuinely clever riff on an earlier Globes social media mixup of Ferrera and Rodriguez. (Paul Drinkwater/NBCUniversal ) 21 / 55 After being announced as a two-time Golden Globe award winner, Jim Carrey made it known that he isn’t just a regular person, he is a two-time Golden Globe award winner. Though, of course, his dreams won’t be fulfilled, as he said, until he becomes a three-time Golden Globe award winner. (Paul Drinkwater / Associated Press) 22 / 55 Kate Winslet accepts the award for supporting actress in a motion picture for her role in “Steve Jobs.” She thanked her costar Michael Fassbender, as well as director Danny Boyle and writer of the film Aaron Sorkin. (Paul Drinkwater / NBC) 23 / 55 Presenter Morgan Freeman announces the nominees for directing. (Handout / Getty Images) 24 / 55 Alejandro G. Inarritu accepts the award for director for “The Revenant.” (Paul Drinkwater / Associated Press) 25 / 55 Presenters Dwayne Johnson and Jennifer Lopez share the stage as they announce a winning contender. (Paul Drinkwater / NBCUniversal) 26 / 55 Maura Tierney accepts the award for supporting actress in a series or TV movie for her role in “The Affair.” It was her first Globe win. She felt “so glad” to be a part of the category amid the “excellent work.” (Paul Drinkwater / NBC) 27 / 55 Presenter Viola Davis takes the stage to speak about the film “Carol.” (Paul Drinkwater / NBCUniversal) 28 / 55 From left, Melissa McCarthy, Jason Statham and Paul Feig of the comedy “Spy” introduce their film onstage with a bit of physical humor. (Paul Drinkwater / NBCUniversal ) 29 / 55 After being made fun of by Ricky Gervais, presenters Ken Jeong and Kevin Hart took the stage. They didn’t forget to put a plug in for their latest film, “Ride Along 2.” (Paul Drinkwater / NBCUniversal ) 30 / 55 Oscar Isaac accepts the award for actor in a limited series or TV movie for his role in “Show Me a Hero.” This was his second nomination and first win. (Paul Drinkwater / NBC) 31 / 55 Presenter Andy Samberg sparks laughs. (Paul Drinkwater / NBCUniversal via Getty Images) 32 / 55 Executive producer Paul Weitz accepts the award for TV series, comedy for “Mozart in the Jungle.” (Paul Drinkwater / NBCUniversal) 33 / 55 Presenters Taraji P. Henson and Terrence Howard bring their “Empire” chemistry to another stage. (Paul Drinkwater / NBCUniversal ) 34 / 55 Colin Callender accepts the award for TV movie or miniseries for “Wolf Hall.” (Paul Drinkwater / NBCUniversal ) 35 / 55 Presenters Tom Ford and Lady Gaga take the stage together. (Paul Drinkwater / NBCUniversal ) 36 / 55 Christian Slater accepts the award for supporting actor in a TV series, limited series or TV movie for his role in “Mr. Robot.” (Paul Drinkwater / NBCUniversal) 37 / 55 Presenters Bryce Dallas Howard and Orlando Bloom are all smiles onstage. (Paul Drinkwater / NBCUniversal) 38 / 55 Miss Golden Globe Corinne Foxx, daughter of Jamie Foxx, puts her wave to practice onstage in between handing out awards to the stars. (Paul Drinkwater / NBCUniversal) 39 / 55 Presenters Kate Hudson and Kurt Russell can’t help but chuckle onstage as they present a winning contender. (Paul Drinkwater / NBCUniversal ) 40 / 55 Host Ricky Gervais kept his jabs about actors coming throughout the show. (Paul Drinkwater / NBC) 41 / 55 Jon Hamm accepts the award for actor in a TV drama series for his role in “Mad Men.” He was grateful to the show’s creator for continuing the journey of the “horrible person” he portrayed. (Paul Drinkwater / NBC) 42 / 55 Presenters J.K. Simmons and Patricia Arquette take the stage. (Paul Drinkwater / NBCUniversal ) 43 / 55 Gael Garcia Bernal accepts the award for actor in a TV comedy series for his role in “Mozart in the Jungle.” This was his first nomination and first win. (Paul Drinkwater / NBC) 44 / 55 OK, can everyone please stop laughing at presenters Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell? No? Sorry guys, maybe that laughter will carry over to your new movie, “Daddy’s Home.” (Paul Drinkwater / NBCUniversal ) 45 / 55 Aaron Sorkin accepts the award for screenplay for “Steve Jobs.” (Paul Drinkwater / NBCUniversal ) 46 / 55 Laszlo Nemes accepts the foreign language film award for the Hungarian movie “Son of Saul.” (Paul Drinkwater / NBCUniversal ) 47 / 55 Presenters Helen Mirren and Gerard Butler reveal some explosive chemistry onstage. (Paul Drinkwater / NBCUniversal ) 48 / 55 Sam Esmail accepts the award for TV drama series for “Mr. Robot.” He thanked the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. for awarding a series named “Mr. Robot.” Hoping to reach his family in Egpyt, he also gave a thank you in Arabic. (Paul Drinkwater / NBCUniversal) 49 / 55 Amy Schumer, left, and Jennifer Lawrence served up a dose of comedy that many were hoping for, making jokes about their names and their personas, before introducing their nominated films “Trainwreck” and “Joy.” (Paul Drinkwater / NBC) 50 / 55 It wasn’t enough that Ricky Gervais just had to make fun of Mel Gibson before the actor-director took the stage -- the host took another stab when Gibson appeared onstage. And some of his comments were censored. (Paul Drinkwater / NBCUniversal ) 51 / 55 Michael Keaton takes the stage to present an award. (Paul Drinkwater / Associated Press) 52 / 55 Sophia Bush, left, and Kate Bosworth present an award onstage. (Paul Drinkwater / Associated Press) 53 / 55 Maggie Gyllenhaal introduces the nominated film “The Room.” (Paul Drinkwater / Associated Press) 54 / 55 Presenter Chris Evans. (Getty Images) 55 / 55 Music, what music? Ridley Scott made sure to get in all this “thank yous” while accepting the award for motion picture comedy for “The Martian.” (Paul Drinkwater / Associated Press)

“Do people not realise that when they say they are offended by a joke it makes that joke even funnier for the rest of us,” he said, adding, “Outrage is the comedian’s alchemy.”


“Don’t offended people realise they are doing my marketing for me,” Gervais continued, posting a photo of himself flipping the bird.

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