Frankie Boyle has called out Ricky Gervais over comments he has made about trans people in his stand-up comedy routine.
The Scottish comic labelled the After Life star “lazy” after he targeted the trans community in his 2018 Netflix special, Humanity. In the show Ricky repeatedly uses Caitlyn Jenner’s dead name and likens trans people to himself “self-identifying as a chimpanzee”.
In an interview with Louis Theroux on his Grounded podcast, Frankie is asked about his TV comedy special Excited For You to See and Hate This, in which he takes a swipe at The Office star over his trans jokes.
“If you’re a stand-up watching him, you feel like, ‘oh, that’s someone doing a version of what we do’,” Frankie said
“But really, it’s that I saw him doing his routine about trans people and I thought it was very lazy.
“I would like him to have the same respect for trans people as he seems to have for animals.
“I don’t think that’s a lot to ask.”
He added: “I mean, look, we know Ricky Gervais, he’s a brilliant actor, he’s a brilliant writer, he’s not a fucking stand-up comedian.
“Just ’cos Ricky Gervais self-identifies as a stand-up comedian, am I supposed to say that he is one? It’s fucking political correctness gone mad.”
Frankie is no stranger to courting controversy in his own brand of near-the-knuckle comedy.
He came under fire in 2010 for making a joke about Katie Price’s disabled son, Harvey.
And in April this year, he hit back following reports he caused upset with a string of jokes on Twitter about the coronavirus pandemic.
Among the tweets in question was one joking about a “campaign to get Big Ben to bong when we reach a million dead”, and another in which he wrote about Boris Johnson’s hospitalisation with the Covid-19.
Useful websites and helplines:
- The Gender Trust supports anyone affected by gender identity | 01527 894 838
- Mermaids offers information, support, friendship and shared experiences for young people with gender identity issues | 0208 1234819
- LGBT Youth Scotland is the largest youth and community-based organisation for LGBT people in Scotland. Text 07786 202 370
- Gires provides information for trans people, their families and professionals who care for them | 01372 801554
- Depend provides support, advice and information for anyone who knows, or is related to, a transsexual person in the UK