Ricky Gervais never stops Ricky Gervaising, so at least there’s one constant in this world. Gervais was on a BBC radio show yesterday, which was broadcasting from Aintree, home to England’s famous Grand National horse race. Gervais’s new show Derek has come under fire for its problematic portrayal of people with intellectual disabilities, but Gervais says he doesn’t see it as offensive (nor does he consider Derek disabled). So what offends him? “Well, you’re at Aintree,” he told host Richard Bacon. “I don’t think that people should make horses jump over things, being whipped, and when they injure themselves they are put down because they are not worth having around because of economic reasons,” he said. “Basically a beautiful majestic beast that took 2 billion years to evolve has just been slaughtered for fun. But I don’t go to Aintree, that’s how I do it.” According to Gervais, “The only valid form of any sort of censorship of ideas in art is the right of people not to listen.” Lofty!
