Ricky Gervais is once again having a laugh at the expense of celebrities, only this time the British comedian is taking aim at the self-congratulatory social media posts that Hollywood stars are creating during the coronavirus pandemic.
Since the outbreak of the Chinese virus, Hollywood celebrities have been flocking to social media to post coronavirus-themed #StayatHome videos and photos that range from serious to light-hearted to truly wacky. What they all seem to have in common, according to Gervais, is a sense of self-importance and neediness.
“I’ve got nothing against anyone being a celebrity or being famous. I think that people are just a bit tired of being lectured to,” Gervais said in an interview published Thursday in the New York Times.
“Now celebrities think: ‘The general public needs to see my face. They can’t get to the cinema — I need to do something.’ And it’s when you look into their eyes, you know that, even if they’re doing something good, they’re sort of thinking, ‘I could weep at what a good person I am.’ Oh dear.”
Hollywood celebrities have flooded their social media accounts with videos starring themselves at home. Actress Gal Gadot lead an ensemble of celebs — Natalie Portman, Will Ferrell, Mark Ruffalo, Amy Adams, Chris O’Down, Maya Rudolph, Jimmy Fallon, James Marsden, and Sarah Silverman, an many others — singing John Lennon’s “Imagine.”
Madonna has posted a series of increasingly bizarre clips in which she waxes philosophical about the coronavirus and performs while in the bathtub. “What’s terrible about it is that it’s made us all equal in many ways and what’s wonderful about is, is that it’s made us all equal in many ways,” said the Material Girl star in a recent video.
Model Emily Ratajkowski posted Instagram photos of herself wearing only lingerie cuddling with her dog.
Actress Naomi Watts cooked, Sir Patrick Stewart recited Shakespeare, Sheryl Crow sang a song, Ben Stiller operated a chainsaw, and Jessica Chastain celebrated her birthday with a bottle of Dom Pérignon rosé champagne.
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Actress Minnie Driver discovered the Swiffer and she made sure all of her followers know it.
Steve Martin played his banjo, Lin-Manuel Miranda played his piano, and Arnold Schwarzenegger wrote a letter.
On the serious end of the spectrum, actor Josh Gad posted a video in which he reassured his fans that it is OK to cry during the pandemic. Actor Robert De Niro appeared in a video for New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, urging people to stay at home.
Ricky Gervais created a splash hosting the Golden Globe Awards in January, where he roasted celebrities and other Hollywood elites for being preachy and out of touch.
When asked about the televised ceremony, the comedian told the Times: “I’ve got to go after the richest people in the room, and NBC and the Hollywood Foreign Press [Association, which organizes the Golden Globes]. I’ve got to be a court jester, but a court jester’s got to make sure that he doesn’t get executed as well. I’ve got to make all the peasants laugh at the king, but the king’s sort of got to like it.”
The newspaper also asked him what he thought about his growing conservative fan base.
“I didn’t notice that on Twitter until a couple of disgruntled liberal elites suddenly said, ‘Oh, Gervais is alt-right now,'” he said. “And I went, what? What’s right-wing about taking the mickey out of the richest, most powerful corporations on the planet?”
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