TheQuartering [7/9/2021]
Everything is cancelled.
According to TheHollywoodReporter:
Ricky Gervais on Friday clarified remarks he made concerning his legendary sitcom The Office and cancel culture.
In a recent interview with the BBC, the comic-actor was talking about The Office turning 20 and made a joke about the show being retroactively canceled due to offensive jokes.
“I mean now it would be canceled. I’m looking forward to when they pick out one thing and try to cancel it,” he said. “Someone said they might try to cancel it one day, and I say, ‘Good, let them cancel it. I’ve been paid!’”
Some outlets jumped on those remarks, reporting Gervais said his version of The Office would be canceled if it were made today. On Twitter, Gervais set the record straight.
“Just to be clear, I did not say The Office would be cancelled if it were made today. That makes no sense. It’s still around. This is my actual quote. “Someone said they might try to cancel it one day, and I said, ‘Good, let them cancel it. I’ve been paid!’” Clearly a joke,” he wrote to his more than 14 million followers.
The Office was created, written and directed by Gervais and Stephen Merchant. In the mockumentary sitcom — which only ran two seasons in the U.K. and featured a two-part holiday special — Gervais starred as office manager David Brent, a mostly witless, bumbling fool, but whose heart was in the right place. Due to his complete lack of tact, Brent would often make tasteless, offensive jokes and remarks.
“In The Office, the audience are encouraged to identify not with the ignorant Brent, but with the characters Dawn [Lucy Davis] and Tim [Martin Freeman], and the victims of Brent’s ill-conceived comments are never racial or gendered caricatures, rather they are ordinary, intelligent people,” Gervais told the BBC.
The U.K. Office sitcom spawned a highly successful U.S. NBC remake starring Steve Carell as David Brent’s counterpart, Michael Scott. Gervais did make a cameo in one episode of the U.S. version as David to the great delight of fans. Gervais also reprised the role for the 2016 film David Brent: Life on the Road.