Ricky Gervais has advised the fist-pumping millionaire Hollywood celebrities to cut out their political grandstanding because their lectures to the everyday Americans tend to have the opposite effect of what they intended.
The British actor-comedian was taking stock of Sunday’s Academy Awards, where actors Joaquin Phoenix, Brad Pitt, and Josh Gad used their time on stage to pontificate on politics and the environment.
Gervais tweeted Monday that he actually agrees with many of the positions that celebrities take, but thinks that getting lectured by wealthy Hollywood liberals is understandably off-putting to average Americans.
The Intercept journalist Glenn Greenwald later accused Gervais of hypocrisy, tweeting that Gervais is also guilty of talking down to average people in his comedy shows. But Gervais maintained that he isn’t bothered by ordinary people who don’t agree with his politics.
In what appears to be a deleted tweet, Gervais defended Phoenix but added that many people resent lectures from celebrities.
“I know for a fact that’s lots of people hate overtly party political lectures from celebrities and dig their heels in. That’s all,” he said, according to a report from The Washington Examiner.
Gervais slammed Hollywood pomposity ahead of Sunday’s Oscars in a series of tweets in which he deflated their self-important acceptance speeches. In January, Gervais hosted the Golden Globes, ripping decorum to shreds by cracking jokes about virtue signaling celebrities, Apple sweatshops, and Harvey Weinstein.
Ratings for Sunday’s Oscars telecast on ABC plummeted to their lowest level ever, drawing about 23.6 million viewers, down a whopping 20 percent from last year, and 11 percent from the previous all-time low.
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