So it seems as if Ricky Gervais has one definite foe in the world of Hollywood…
Judd Apatow, the man behind KNOCKED UP, THE 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN, and an entire subtle genre of comedy over the past decade, was hosting the Producers Guild Awards this weekend. The show wasn’t aired for television, but in his opening monologue, he had a lot to say about Gervais. The highlights are below:
—“What did you think of Ricky Gervais?…I didn’t like him. I thought he was mean.”
—“He had that joke about the guy on Lost…He said he ate everybody else. Let’s be honest — Ricky Gervais just lost weight. Even now he’s four pounds away from not being allowed to do a joke like that. Did he lose weight just to make fat jokes? You think that’s how mean he is?”
—“(Gervais) says the characters (in The Tourist) were two-dimensional…Then he says he hasn’t seen The Tourist. So as a comedian, that’s not fair, is it? To make jokes about a movie you haven’t seen. I can’t do a joke about The Invention of Lying because I haven’t seen it. You haven’t seen it. None of us have seen it. So the joke would not work.”
—“(Gervais) made a joke about Tim Allen who was standing next to Tom Hanks…Who looks good standing next to Tom Hanks? We all look like a piece of shit standing next toTom Hanks. Warren Buffet would look like a piece of shit next to Tom Hanks.”
—“Tim Allen did 200 episodes of Home Improvement. He was in three of the highest grossing movies of all time. And his latest just crossed the one billion mark. Whereas The Invention Of Lying made $18 million dollars worldwide…Leave Tim Allen alone.”
So far, Apatow’s monologue seems to be the most direct response to Gervais’ “Golden Globes” job, but the question is, did he go too far himself? On one hand, it could all be jokes. On the other, much of it just seemed like he was telling Gervais to shut up. It’s all up to you to decide.