Image Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty ImagesJudd Apatow, who solicited hosting suggestions via Twitter after watching Ricky Gervais’ polarizing performance at last week’s Golden Globe Awards, was more direct on Saturday night, when he emcee’d the Producers Guild of America Awards. “I didn’t like him,” the Knocked Up director told a black-tie industry crowd. “I thought he was mean.”
“He had that joke about the guy on Lost,” said Apatow. “He said he ate everybody else. Let’s be honest — Ricky Gervais just lost weight. Even now, he’s four pounds away from not being allowed to do a joke like that. Did he lose weight just to make fat jokes? You think that’s how mean he is?”
Prior to the show, Apatow told EW: “I learned that hosting can be done wrong…. I thought he was a little mean and I guess I don’t subscribe to the school of thought that all jokes have to be mean to be funny.”
A few highlights from Apatow’s opening monologue in which he defends Gervais targets Tim Allen, Robert Downey Jr.:
• “He made fun of Tim Allen. He made a joke that if you stand next to Tom Hanks, you don’t look as good. Who looks good standing next to Tom Hanks? We all look like a piece of s— standing next to Tom Hanks. Warren Buffett looks like a piece of s— next to Tom Hanks. And may I say that Tim Allen did 200 episodes of Home Improvement, and is in the highest-grossing movies of all time, and that Toy Story 3 just crossed the $1 billion mark. Whereas The Invention of Lying made $18 million worldwide. Is that wrong to point out? Leave Tim Allen alone.”
• “He made fun of Downey. Downey has been sober. He’s f—in’ Iron Man, and you keep reminding him of that? You know what that’s like? It’s like at your bar mitzvah, and your uncle gets onstage when you do the Torah and he tells everyone you have a small d—? You know what I mean? Why do that?”
(Reporting by Carrie Bell)
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I thought the Lost joke was one of the more harmless ones.
Also one of the least funny.
I’m very glad Judd did that. Ricky went way too far. I was mad when Ricky did the Tim Allen joke. Being sarcastic is fine…but Ricky abused that privilege.
good for Judd
Ricky is lost. He’s got to learn how to get himself together, he’s stuck. Yes it’s ok if men are A Holes, but just don’t be the frickin devil.
I thought it was hilarious. You’re probably still a Lost fanboy crying over the demise of your lame show.
learn: Ricky’s lost?! That’s weird because if I recall The Ricky Gervais Show and An Idiot Abroad are both hits. Doesn’t sound like the direction of a lost man. Maybe you should learn.
You know that Ricky went too far when even Judd was offended. Being a smart aleck and making mean spirited jokes is all good—but Ricky over did it by being just plain wrong and evil. Ricky needs to try to give a little bit of respect.
Did you see Tim Allens face? He was wearing sunglasses and I could still see that his eyes were watery. Go on youtube and see. Tim was trying to hide the embarrassment, he started clapping on stage and smiling. Sadly you could still see that Tim was stressed about that. It’s ridiculous that Ricky did that. Not everyone has the chance to be the perfect, attention getting superstar…Ricky really should of left Tim Allen alone.
I know that Ricky is 49 years old. Is Ricky married??? I’m not surprised if he’s not married at his age. He doesn’t seem like the *I’ll be there for you* type of man. If he has a lady in his life, I feel bad for her!!!!!(:
Ricky wishes he was Tim. Everyone remembers Tim from his show and movies. I can’t say the same about Ricky.
Tim Allen said Ricky was great – people think Ricky went too far but have you ever heard them talk about each other off camera? It’s almost never too far among comedians!
To Leo, I never read anything online saying that Tim said Ricky was great. I did read that Ricky tweeted online that Tim and Tom had a drink with him after the show…but that doesn’t mean that Tim likes him. I think Tim was just being nice and he’s not the kind of guy to fight with people. Maybe Ricky went up to Tim and Tom on purpose so he could say they were getting along just so he could save his a**.
Give me a break people. Tim Allen is a comedian, first and foremost, so trust, he has a way thicker skin than what you people are giving him credit for. I thought Ricky was AWESOME on the show and it just figures that Americans are all uptight about it. I think the ONE thing that needs to change is that Americans need to find their sense of humor again. Good god.
If Ricky wanted to be mean to Tim Allen, he would have mentioned that he is a convicted felon and former drug dealer. You people are too sensitive. Unless Tim Allen is your dad, you are spending too much time being concerned about a millionaire who was most certainly not crying because someone made a joke that he was not as successful as Tom Hanks.
The point is, Ricky shouldn’t of said that stuff in front of the people when they were actually there. He should of just said it on his own time(late show interviews,comedy stand up).
The suggestion that Tim Allen felt like crying after the joke about him is preposterous. Seriously, stop projecting. He’s a grown-up comedian who’s made plenty of jokes at other people’s expense (I think most of you posting here have only seen either Toy Story or Home Improvement and nothing else), and he can certainly take a joke of the calibre Gervais made without questioning the worth of his life.
Aunt Sassy nailed it.
Seriously, why are we still talking about the Golden Globes … isn’t this getting a bit redundant.
YES
No. Look up ‘redundant.’ EW commenters are f***ing stupid.
Why are you still reading about the Golden Globes, then commenting aboout why we’re still commenting about it?
Oh MrsDolly, I was wondering when somebody would bring out that ol’ internet board cliche.
I agree with Jerry…is this still news, over a week later?
I liked Ricky…that is his style. Whoever hired him knew it, so be ticked off at that person.
Ricky was a great host. His jokes were funny and controversial. Just reading Judd’s monologue is putting me to sleep. There’s a reason he hosted an award show that wasn’t televised – zzzzzzz.
Judd who?
If you were fat and someone made a joke about you would you laugh?
Uh, Judd. Hypocritical much? You accuse Ricky of being “mean” (wah, wah, what a crybaby, BTW), and then you go ahead and rip into him, saying some pretty “mean” things in the process. As another poster said, at least Ricky was funny. You’re just a whiner.
Hey Judd-
We’ve seen your last couple of movies and judging by those bombs and your comments, you’ve really lost your sense of humor.
Seriously… Funny People was not at all funny.
Well I thought Funny People was funny. He wrote the script for You Don’t Mess With the Zohan and Knocked Up, those are funny movies. He’s definitely more funny than Ricky.
You thought Zohan was funny? No wonder you are a lower case letter.
Funny People was terrible. An endless string of d*ck and fart jokes, with no plot. Then it just got depression. Was it a drama? Was it a comedy? Was it trying to be a dramedy that wasn’t funny? It was AWFUL.
Zohan was terrible as well.
Knock up was great.
Judd Apatow has done some good work – Knock Up is funny, Freaks and Geeks is good stuff, The 40 Year Old Virgin is hilarious. But Zohan? Crap. Walk Hard? Not so good. Funny People? I don’t even know how it was so bad. His track record has very high highs, and very low lows. The Invention of Lying was actually pretty good, and I liked the concept.
The Invention of Lying was Ricky’s movie…not Judd’s. I just want to make that clear because The Invention of Lying was such a lame movie.
Judd was not the only writer of the movie You don’t mess with the zohan, two other writers wrote the script too. Adam Sandler was one of the script writers, so it’s not like its Judds fault for that movie.
Hypocrite! He takes Gervais to tasm for being mean, then is just as mean. At least Gervais was funny.
What’s a tasm?
Ricky abused it. The thing is: Being mean is fine, but extremely embarrassing someone when they are there and completely disrespecting someone in front of them is crossing the line. Ricky needs to calm down. Next he is going to be making people faint and have nervous breakdowns.
Give me a break “respect” – if Ricky Gervais saying something about you causes you to have a nervous breakdown then you really shouldn’t be in the movie business. GET REAL! As a comedian I am positive Tim Allen has said things about other people that are just as bad if not worse. And I agree with the others – Apatow just sounds like a crying D-bag. I mean really, why don’t you shut the F up Apatow and try to write a funny movie – hosting a non-televised awards show is obviously not your calling.
Right on, Aunt Sassy! Plus, Apatow was so sucking up to those other producers. He didn’t talk in terms of quality, just how much MONEY various movies made. What a total suck-up douchebag!
Oh, and excuse me, Judd, but Tom Hanks isn’t some great human being. He’s a movie star, for God’s sake, not a Nobel Prize winner! He’s not all that.
What the heck happened to Apatow and having a sense of humor?
When did he turn into comedy’s sourpuss grandpa?
Go to bed, Judd. You got some vaguely misogynistic screenwriting to do later.
Exactly! Comment perfection!
I’m so sick of Judd Apatow talking about his love of comedy and the rules of comedy. This guy probably touches himself while watching old Richard Pryor stand-ups. That’s a heck of a way to get the hollywood crowd to love you, by criticizing Gervais for what he did. 40 year old virgin was great, Knocked Up was really good, Funny People and Zohan sucked though.
Good one Thom!
The only Apatow movie I ever liked (actually loved) was the 40 yr Old Virgin. But I always felt that it’s comedy had more to do with the great improv of the cast then the original writing. For example I’m sure Apatow wrote the part where Steve Carell’s character has his chest waxed, but it was Steve that actually made the scene work. Judd’s only skill seems to be knowing when to stay out of his cast’s way.
Appatow is funny, his movies are funny, and he’s right. Gervais confused Host is Roast, and he was intentionally mean because he knew he wanted to make sure he woud never be asked to host again.
Apatow’s marginally funny. Gervais is comedy gold. And all Apatow did was prove what a whiny little b**ch he is.
Despite what Apatow’s movies gross, they are filled with mean spirited jokes! What gives Apatow?
For someone that can write a female character that isn’t an evil, bitter harpy, he certinly has a lot to say about someone else’s material. I’d suggest focusing on his own problems.
Your article was ecxellnet and erudite.
Ricky, as always, was great. These people need to stop taking themselves so seriously.
Couldn’t agree more. Can someone please explain to me what he did that was so wrong? You would think, based on all the continued comments on this non-issue, that he is the most hated man in American. So he told a few bad jokes that made fun of people? If actors don’t like being criticized or being made fun of once in awhile, find a new line of work (that pays you that well).
Judd Apatow might not have liked Ricky Gervais’ hosting, but at least Gervais was funny, Apatow came off sounding like he was a PR agent trying to boost his clients ego, not funny at all, keep to the day job Judd!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wait, Judd Apatow is going on about mean jokes now? Almost every joke in his movies are making fun of someone or something. Seriously Judd?
Word!
Not to mention that the women in his movies are typically unlikeable harpies. Want to talk about being mean, Judd, let’s start with the misogynistic undercurrents in your work…
Ricky was FABULOUS. Judd Apatow and all those other Hollywood whiners need to STFU and get over themselves.
is this from the same guy that wrote and directed “knock up”?
Amen! And the same could be said for any of his movies. Are we seriously getting a lecture on the political correctness of fat jokes from the guy who brought us ‘you know how I know you’re gay?’?
Judd Apatow “unloads” on Ricky Gervais? Really? Seemed pretty mild to me.
That’s what the thing is. Ricky doesn’t have to be mean to be funny, and he demonstrates that all the time. However, he does try to make you feel uncomfortable, which is why this is perfect.
If you’re a “comic” whose entire brand of comedy relies on being mean, such as Kathy Griffin, then it’s obnoxious becuase it shows how limited you really are.
“I thought he was mean” whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. Apatow is a douche
This made me laugh out loud. Just sayin.
Maybe Apatow was just jealous.
Sycophant. I’m guessing he’s in the process of casting his next movie…
who is Judd Apple?
Speaking of Lost-related jokes, here’s one from Knocked Up…
Alison Scott: I’m actually doing my first on-air interview today.
Ben Stone: With who?
Alison Scott: Uh, Matthew Fox.
Ben Stone: Matthew Fox from Lost?
Alison Scott: Yeah.
Ben Stone: You know what’s interesting about him?
Alison Scott: What?
Ben Stone: Nothing!
But I guess that joke’s ok.
well said Matt.
Amen. Judd’s been known to be mean in his scripts. What a hypocrite.
So, to get back at Ricky Gervais for being mean, we should all be mean to Ricky Gervais?