Ricky Gervais has revealed he cut a joke about Jason Momoa from one of his Golden Globes monologues because he was worried it was racist.
In the comedian’s new Netflix stand-up special, Mortality, released Tuesday, he praised the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for never censoring his jokes during the five times he has hosted the awards show, but explained that he stopped himself from making a joke that might have sparked backlash.
“I said earlier, I’ve never had a joke stopped by the Golden Globes, and that is absolutely true,” Gervais, 64, said. “But I’ve just remembered the joke that I stopped myself, ’cause I bottled it a bit, and I think I was being over-cautious. I want to share it with you.”
He continued, “So I’ve got the chance to introduce Jason Momoa. So I thought the meta joke would be to show my hypocrisy and my cowardice. I’m OK to slag off actors — who’s scared of actors? — but when it comes to a big dude, right, I’m not so brave.
“So I was gonna go, ‘I’ve got nothing bad to say about our next presenter, because he’s got a cock like a baby’s arm.’ I told my mate I was gonna do that, and my mate went, ‘Do you think people will think that’s racist?’ I went, ‘Why is it racist?’”
He said his friend answered, “‘Well, because he’s a person of color,’” to which Gervais responded, “‘It’s nothing to do with that. It’s to do with the fact that he’s so big, he’d probably have a cock like a baby’s arm.’ So I didn’t do it.”
The comedian recently spoke about his reputation for making off-color jokes during his comedy specials on an episode of Radio 4’s This Cultural Life, where he claimed that working-class people are the only group comedians can joke about without sparking significant backlash.
“You are a product of your time and you do make things for people of your time. I’d put trigger warnings on things, but I wouldn’t go back and change something,” Gervais said. “Do I regret anything? No. Would I do things differently now? Probably.”
Gervais hosted the Golden Globes in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2016, and 2020, which he proclaimed would be his “very last time” in the role.
Comedian Nikki Glaser is set to host this year’s show for the second year in a row. The ceremony will take place on January 11 at the Beverly Hilton hotel in Beverly Hills, California.
