Ricky Gervais Suggests Controversial Collaboration With Dave Chappelle

Ricky Gervais has suggested a collaboration with fellow comedian Dave Chappelle at one of the entertainment world’s biggest nights, as both ride high with their controversial new Netflix specials.

Christmas Day saw the release of Gervais’ Netflix comedy special, Armageddon, which stirred up controversy before its debut over jokes the former Golden Globe Awards host had made about terminally ill children.

During an appearance on BBC Radio 5 Live’s Headliners podcast last month, Gervais addressed the backlash, seemingly blaming the reaction on the forum.

“I can play to a million people, I won’t get a complaint,” he said. “As soon as it goes on Netflix or as soon as someone writes up a joke that says this is offensive, people go, ‘Oh, that’s offensive.’ They haven’t even heard the joke. They weren’t there. Ignore them. They don’t count. They have no effect on me. They don’t count. They’re hecklers.”

Days after Gervais’ Armageddon release, Chappelle returned to Netflix on December 31 with a new special called The Dreamer, in which he spent much of his comedy set talking about his aspirations when first starting out in the industry and how he learned how to become successful.

However, the comic sparked a public outcry when he dedicated the first portion of the special to transgender people after facing ongoing criticism for previous jokes he made about them in his other Netflix shows.

Both Chappelle and Gervais’ Netflix specials have debuted high on the streaming giant’s charts—which recently prompted Gervais to share a suggestion.

Posting a screenshot showing his and Chappelle’s high positions, Gervais wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “We should host The Oscars together,” along with a laughing emoji.

Like Chappelle, Gervais has faced criticism over his jokes aimed at transgender people. The Office co-creator’s 2022 standup show, titled SuperNature, divided opinion online when it was released on Netflix due to its material.

Gervais has publicly described himself as “pro-trans” in the past and told The Spectator in 2022 that his target isn’t “trans folk, but trans activist ideology.”

Meanwhile, Chappelle’s 2021 Netflix special, The Closer, faced similar controversy on its release. The special sparked Netflix staff walkouts, with employees charging that the show contained material widely branded “transphobic.”

Chappelle addressed those comments during another Netflix special What’s in a Name?—in which he called students who criticized him “instruments of oppression.”

Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos initially defended Chappelle, saying: “We have a strong belief that content on screen doesn’t directly translate to real-world harm.”

But he later told The Hollywood Reporter that he “screwed up” in regard to internal communications within the company about the special.

An estimated 100 Netflix employees organized a walkout in October 2021 and the streaming service’s handling of the situation eventually led to the resignation of Terra Field, a high-level engineer for the company and the founder of its transgender employee research group.

Before the walkout, Netflix said in a press release: “We value our trans colleagues and allies, and understand the deep hurt that’s been caused. We respect the decision of any employee who chooses to walk out, and recognize we have much more work to do both within Netflix and in our content.”