Ricky Gervais slammed Gary Lineker in a brutal stand-up routine about illegal immigrants. The comedian, in his new Netflix show Armageddon, targeted cancel culture and those who are so-called “woke”.
In a clear dig at the BBC Sport host, Mr Gervais parodied someone who was truly “woke” about immigrants arriving at Dover in small boats.
Ricky said: “I am trying to be more woke. For example, I love illegal immigrants. Sue me.
“Sometimes I just go down to Dover and I see a f***ing dinghy with 60 of them on and I go, ‘Come on, welcome! Women and children first. Oh, there are no women — just you lads, is it?’”
He added: “If there’s no boat, I’m absolutely gutted. I just sort of wander into town and stand by the traffic lights, and wait for a big lorry to pull up.
“I look underneath, and there’s a lad clutching onto it, and I go: ‘Where are you headed?’
“And he says: ‘Gary Lineker’s house.’”
Mr Lineker has becomine increasingly known for his outspoken politics on his social media.
In March of this year he caused a headache for the BBC after he responded to a video message by then-home secretary Suella Braverman about stopping people crossing the Channel in small boats. He wrote: “Good heavens, this is beyond awful.”
When challenged by someone on Twitter, he defended his comments, saying: “There is no huge influx. We take far fewer refugees than other major European countries.
“This is just an immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s, and I’m out of order?”
Mr Lineker was temporarily suspended by the BBC for the comment.
Mr Gervais’ criticism of him was warmly received by some on social media, one of whom said: “Love this from Ricky Gervais.
“Gary Lineker is a joke and completely out of touch with the British people on illegal migrants.
“The majority of people do not accept people coming here illegally by boat. The Tories are right to make this a key issue.”
But some claimed the routine was an intentional satire on exactly such a response. One said: “Are you serious? He’s taking the p*** out of people like you Kevin and your idea of ‘woke’.”
Mr Gervais said towards the end of his show: “You’ll realise this is great satire when I’m dead” – although it isn’t clear if this was referring to this routine in particular.
Explaining the name of his show, the 60-year-old told his crowd: “The new show is going to be called Armageddon and it’s going to be about how I think humanity will end — whether we will evolve, go to another planet, or we destroy it with things at our disposal.
“People born this century are going to have a very different middle age to me. It’s my fault and the generation before me, the Boomers — with fossil fuels, deforestation, causing global warming, everything like that.
“So, 20-year-olds today, in 40 years’ time they’ll be huddled in their houses like prisons, wearing masks, afraid, in pain, crying . . . like they do now over jokes. I am going to spend all of my money on private jets from now on, to make sure it definitely f***ing happens.”
Mr Gervais had a meteoric rise to fame after co-creating, co-writing and acting in the British television mockumentary sitcom The Office.
His most recent show ‘After life’ on Netflix has also been a roaring success. It is currently the most watched British comedy in the world, with a global viewership of over 100 million. More recently his stand-up comedy has focused on lampooning modern cancel culture.
He has won seven BAFTA Awards, five British Comedy Awards, two Emmy Awards and three Golden Globes. In 2010, he was named in the Time 100 list of World’s Most Influential People.
