Ricky Gervais is speaking out to admit that he once hurt the feelings of his fellow comedian Tim Allen with a joke that he told many years ago.
Gervais Hurts Allen’s Feelings
During an appearance on The Romesh Ranganathan Show on Monday, Gervais recalled a joke that he made at Allen’s expense while hosting the Golden Globe Awards back in 2011.
Gervais hosted the Golden Globes five different times between 2010 and 2020. During that time, he became known for his biting humor and for taking digs at celebrities. Indeed, no member of the Hollywood elite were safe from Gervais’ brutal jabs.
“There’s a couple that I found out after didn’t appreciate it much,” Gervais confessed. He then admitted that Allen was one of these celebrities who didn’t like a joke that was made about him.
The joke came as Gervais was introducing Allen and Tom Hanks as co-presenters in a way that was deliberately unbalanced. Gervais explained that he heaped praise on Hanks, listing out his various iconic movies and his many awards. He then abruptly introduced Allen, deliberately not mentioning any of his successes.
“I go out there, ‘Our next two presenters, the first was in Forrest Gump, Philadelphia,'” Gervais remembered. He proceeded to note that Hanks’ movies have made over five billion dollars at the box office.
“The second is Tim Allen,” Gervais recounted, adding nothing more to this.
Gervais told host Romesh Ranganathan that the joke was affective. However, he acknowledged that it was also unkind to Allen.
“It was a great joke, but it was a bit cruel,” he admitted.
Check out the joke for yourself below.
Allen Confronts Gervais
After the ceremony, Allen confronted Gervais, letting him know exactly how he felt about the joke. Gervais responded by attempting to defend himself and his humor.
“I met him afterwards and said, ‘Listen, the thing is Tim, who would win standing next to Tom Hanks?'” he recalled. “There clearly was bathos in that, but who couldn’t I do that with walking out with Tom Hanks?”
That being said, Gervais could still understand why Allen, who is best known for his work in television, was left embarrassed by the incident.
“He’s TV, sitcom, or whatever, but it wasn’t that bad, I do get it,” Gervais said. “It is embarrassing to be the butt of the joke, even against Tom Hanks.”
It is indeed a fact that Hanks, a two-time Oscar-winner and six-time nominee, is one of the biggest movie stars of all-time. However, Allen’s career is also nothing to scoff at.
Allen has enjoyed success in hit movies like The Santa Clause and the Toy Story series. In the world of television, he’s starred in some of the best sitcoms of all time. Allen starred in the beloved sitcom Home Improvement from 1991 until 1999. He then starred in the hilarious Last Man Standing from 2011 until 2021.
These days, Allen is starring in the sitcom Shifting Gears on ABC, with new episodes airing on Wednesday night.
Watching Gervais stick it to the elites of Hollywood during his Golden Globe hosting gigs was nothing short of hilarious. However, we can also see why Allen didn’t enjoy being the butt of this particular joke. Here’s hoping that Allen realizes that he has millions of fans out there who appreciate the hard work that he’s put into his career.
God bless you, Tim Allen!