In his first televised interview since his controversial Golden Globes performance, comedian Ricky Gervais stood by his celebrity taunts -- saying that he doesn't believe he did anything wrong. On Thursday's Piers Morgan Tonight, Gervais told Morgan that the Hollywood Foreign press knew exactly what they were getting when they offered him the high-profile hosting gig.
"They hired me for a job, and if they didn't want me, they shouldn't have hired me," Gervais said matter-of-factly.
So how does Gervais justify his attacks on beloved stars like Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp? He believes that they couldn't possibly have become so successful in the first place without being able to take a joke.
"Johnny Depp is one of the most successful, richest, most loved, most handsome people on the planet, and I'm sure he's got a sense of humor," Gervais told Morgan. "If he hasn't, all those things are wasted. But I'm sure he has. Do you really think that he hasn't seen the press about The Tourist? Do you really think he's hurt that I didn't like The Tourist?"
Gervais also doesn't buy the argument that certain stars should be off-limits -- say, if they've struggled with addiction, like Charlie Sheen and Robert Downey Jr.. "I'm not judging them for what they did," he argued. "I'm confronting the elephant in the room."
Okay, we know this may be an unpopular opinion -- but when it comes down to it, we have to side with Ricky Gervais here. What is this world coming to if we can't make fun of celebrities? Gervais didn't say anything that the stars in question hadn't heard before, and he took it in stride when they sassed him back (as Downey Jr. did, among others). Besides, in the end, Gervais is harmless. He's a comedian who livened a potentially dull ceremony -- and his jokes did nothing to damage anybody's career or reputation. It's easy to point fingers at Gervais, but really, who would you rather watch on TV: somebody who plays it safe, or somebody who goes a little too far?
Do you think Ricky Gervais did anything wrong by making fun of celebrities? Chime in below!
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