I feel like there needs to be a training course when a rich, influential white person, maybe from Britain, gets twitter where they’re told that just because they think things that are hurtful to people they don’t need to say them or tweet them to a massive audience. But alas.
Today we’re mad at Ricky Gervais. The provocateur comic proved again that he’s more offensive than funny with some seriously icky comments about the current kerfuffle in Britain involving J.K. Rowling and her response regarding the case of Maya Forstater. Gervais responded to a tweet about the Rowling controversy in a way that made Rowling’s words look downright nice by comparison.
Those awful biological women can never understand what it must be like for you becoming a lovely lady so late in life. They take their girly privileges for granted. Winning at female sports and having their own toilets. Well, enough is enough.
— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) December 20, 2019
Can’t decide between “yuck” and “wow” for the first response here. But then he doubled down.
Exactly. We need to protect the rights of women. Not erode them because some men have found a new cunning way to dominate and demonise an entire sex.
— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) December 20, 2019
These tweets are very bad because they perpetuate the pernicious myth that trans rights somehow equate to allowing predatory men into women’s spaces. That’s flat out untrue and things like allowing people to use the bathroom that matches their identified gender doesn’t lead to women being assaulted.
Your semi-regular reminder that if your concern with trans women is that men might claim to self-ID as trans to gain access to women’s spaces and assault them, then your problem is actually with predatory men and not trans women.
— Harriet Marsden (@harriet1marsden) December 20, 2019
Gervais later tried to clarify and ended up just making it worse.
Sure. I think trans women are women. I wasn’t talking about trans people 🙏
— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) December 21, 2019
Still bad, Ricky because you’re just spreading fear and lies now. Truly can’t wait for this guy to host the Golden Globes again. Bleh.
(image: Paul Drinkwater/NBCUniversal via Getty Images)
Here are a few other things we saw today, many of them much less horrible.
- Surprising no parent in America, the highest-paid YouTuber again this year is Ryan of Ryan’s World and he’s not the only kid making bank. (via Forbes)
- Like the Expanse? That season four ending explained. (via Den of Geek)
- The Hungarian immigrant who helped fund Walt Disney. (via Newsweek)
- Forget Rise of Skywalker, we love these first throwback firs reactions to The Return of the Jedi:
Return of the Jedi audience reactions from 1983 pic.twitter.com/ObJ3h5KMHC
— Eyes On Cinema (@RealEOC) December 21, 2019
- Ten years since her death and we still miss Brittany Murphy. (via Flood Magazine)
- Guys, don’t worry, that confusing opening crawl in The Rise of Skywalker makes total sense…if you play Fortnite. (via SyfyWire)
- Jackson Byrd’s editorial on the Rowling situation is so powerful. (via The New York Times)
- Finally: CHRISTMAS POSSUM!
— Will Nevin (@willnevin) December 19, 2019
That’s what we saw today, Suvians. Now we need to finish our shopping…
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