Ricky Gervais says privileged stars aren't 'above' Golden Globes jokes

Ricky Gervais has doubled down on his decision to take aim at privileged Hollywood stars at the Golden Globes, saying they shouldn’t be “above” it.

The comedian hosted the show this year and didn't hold back in ribbing the rich and famous, taking a swipe at celebrity “woke” culture, and targeting people such as Leonardo DiCaprio and Prince Andrew.

One clip - showing Tom Hanks’s response to Gervais’s monologue – went viral after the ceremony.

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Gervais addressed the awards show - and the Hanks meme - during a recent chat on the Stuff Of Legends podcast, saying he believed the public were fed up of “virtue signalling people” telling them how to live and that he still considered his speech to be a gentle roasting, rather than anything nasty.

He also suggested that stars should be able to laugh at themselves.

He said: “The big meme was Tom Hanks going, 'Why is he saying that?'

"And people are going, 'Oh look he's on his high horse.’

“But when Leo DiCaprio laughed, people loved him for it, you know?

"I think people who laugh at a joke, they get a round of applause because people go, 'Oh that's good, they can take it’.”

“It’s in us that we don't want people to be above it,” added the star.

“We even let people be privileged as long as they say, 'I know I'm privileged but I'm nothing really.’ We don't like people to go, 'I deserve it, how dare you talk to me like that'.

"And we sense that, if we really think these people start believing their own hype, we want to bring them down a peg or two."

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Gervais also pointed out that the fact Hollywood stars get paid what they do is just “luck”, and questioned why they make so much more than people such as nurses.

“Why do we pay someone who pretends to save lives, more than someone who actually saves lives?” he asked.

Watch: Ricky Gervais and Judi Dench demand end to animal cruelty