After Life star and creator Ricky Gervais has definitively ruled out returning to host the Golden Globes, the award ceremony which he’s previously emceed five times.
The response came after a Twitter user shared a video of Gervais’ opening monologue from his fifth time hosting the Globes in 2020. In the tweet, the fan asked people to retweet the clip “if you wish [Gervais] would host the Golden Globes again in 2023.”
One of the people who retweeted the clip was Gervais, though not in support. “F*** that,” The Office creator wrote in reaction to the post while adding a crying laughing face emoji.
Fuck that https://t.co/sinOAmmqJd
— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) October 9, 2022
The campaign for Gervais to return as host comes after the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) announced that the Globes will be televised again in 2023 on NBC. This year’s event was reduced to a Twitter thread after the HFPA faced backlash for its lack of diversity and troublesome practices. The group has since vowed to make changes.
“We recognize the HFPA’s commitment to ongoing change and look forward to welcoming back the Golden Globes to NBC for its landmark 80th Anniversary in January 2023,” said Frances Berwick, Chairman of Entertainment Networks at NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, in a recent statement.
A host for the 2023 ceremony has yet to be announced, but Gervais is adamant that it won’t be him. Last year, Gervais spoke with The Guardian about his approach to hosting the famous awards show, which usually involves poking fun at the celebrities in attendance.
“Do I pander to the 200 billionaires in the room or the 200 million people at home sitting in their [underwear] drinking beer who aren’t winning awards, who aren’t billionaires? It’s a no-brainer for a comedian. I’m a jester. I play to the other peasants in the mud,” said the multi-millionaire British comedian.
“I wasn’t going in terrible,” he continued. “Think of the things I could have said… Think of the f*****g terrible things I could have joked about. It’s off the charts — It’s. Off. The. Charts — the terrible things I could say.”
The Golden Globe Awards, Tuesday, January 10, 2023, 8/7c, NBC and Peacock
