The Derek star was accused of sexism after going after a female hunter for killing a giraffe

The online feud between comedian Ricky Gervais and American hunter Rebecca Francis continued on Saturday, with the British comedian responding to her insinuation his comments were sexist.

On Monday, Gervais shared a controversial image of Francis laying on the ground smiling next to a giraffe she killed in 2010, with his 7.58 million Twitter followers, leading many to express their outrage towards the hunter.

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“What must’ve happened to you in your life to make you want to kill a beautiful animal & then lie next to it smiling?” wrote Gervais.

Francis, who won the reality TV show Extreme Huntress in 2010, responded to the attack by issuing two statements to HuntingLife.com. Both Francis’s first and second statements focused on being a female hunter, suggesting that Gervais comments were sexist.

“Ricky Gervais has used his power and influence to specifically target women in the hunting industry and has sparked thousands of people to call for my death, the death of my family and many other women who hunt,” Francis wrote.

She continued, “I repeat I will never apologize for being a woman who hunts as I know that my passion for hunting and conservation is making a direct difference on the ground for wildlife.”

Peter Holley, in an article for the Washington Post, also speculated about why female big game hunters are often vilified in the media.

Gervais responded to the sexism insinuations on Saturday, sarcastically tweeting “We need to stamp out this terrible sexism in the noble sport of trophy hunting. The men & women that do it are EQUALLY vile & worthless.”

The star then spent much of Saturday tweeting about saving wildlife, and retweeting other images of Francis with slain animals.