Ricky Gervais Shreds Celebrities Complaining About Quarantining in Their Mansions
The rich and famous who whine about the perils of being forced to live in their mansions due to restrictions imposed upon society amid the coronavirus pandemic have no idea what life is really like, comedian Ricky Gervais said in a new interview.
Recently, celebrities from Sam Smith to Ellen DeGeneres to Kelly Ripa have sung the teary-eyed blues about how hard life is.
They should knock it off, Gervais told U.K. tabloid The Sun.
“After this is over I never want to hear people moaning about the welfare state again, I never want to hear people moaning about nurses again. Or porters,” he said.
“These people are doing 14-hour shifts and not complaining. Wearing masks, and being left with sores, after risking their own health and their families’ health selflessly.
“But then I see someone complaining about being in a mansion with a swimming pool. And, you know, honestly, I just don’t want to hear it.”
Gervais then threw in a self-deprecating jab.
“I didn’t go out much anyway, and there’s always too much booze in the house. It’s always been the 6 p.m. watershed for as long as I remember. Obviously, I am looking at the watch,” he said.
The comedian hit a chord on Twitter.
I agree with @rickygervais in today’s papers, saying how stupid it is when celebrities living in expensive houses start moaning about being isolated. Just think about all those front line workers. Well said Ricky. Thank you! pic.twitter.com/s71F9MtOge
— Daniel Tom Clark (@Clark1995Clark) April 14, 2020
I have to agree with @rickygervais anyone even with a garden who is moaning about isolation should be extremely grateful for what they have ! as there are individuals less fortunate
— Peter Shilton (@Peter_Shilton) April 14, 2020
I agree with @rickygervais in the @TheSun today saying how stupid it is when celebrities living in expensive houses start moaning about the self isolation. The people I worry about are those living by themselves in small flats and the front line workers. Well said Ricky.
— Tony Blackburn (@tonyblackburn) April 14, 2020
Piers Morgan applauded Gervais, The Sun reported.
“Ricky Gervais has spoken for all of us, or certainly for me today,” he said on ITV’s “Good Morning Britain.”
“I don’t want to hear it either. You look at some celebrities who have done amazing things, using their power and influence for real good.
“And others post these videos, Madonna from her mansion, from her rose petal, candle-lit bath wailing away as if this could improve morale instead of destroy it.”
Morgan said the world has turned upside down as real heroes push the fake ones to the sidelines.
“It’s a very interesting realignment of priorities here, where people have been reminded who the real stars of society are and we’ve got very intolerant actually of those who seemed important before,” he said.
Writer Paula Froelich also took on the flow of celebrity tears in a Saturday Op-Ed in the New York Post.
“While much of the United States is on lockdown, scared or bored out of their wits, broke and newly unemployed, many celebrities, TV personalities and ‘influencers’ are behaving like Nero, fiddling while Rome burned,” she wrote.
“The hordes of the entitled aren’t quite sure how to behave. Everything has changed. How will they be aspirational? How can they show America that they too are in pain, struggling and therefore relatable/likable?
“Many of them have dug deep into their shallow psyches and bravely tried to show us their burden either via their own television shows or social media channels to get their daily dose of crowd-sourced dopamine. And it’s … horrific,” she wrote.
Noting that DeGeneres said living in her mansion was “like being in jail,” Froelich wrote that she would “happily offer to switch places with poor Ellen while she holes up in my tiny three-room apartment and I spread out in her multi-tiered fantasy pad.”
“Then, of course, there’s Gisele Bundchen, the supermodel who, while promoting Global Meditation, posted a pic of herself in front of a beautiful pool and waterfall as she extolled the importance of being Zen,” Froelich wrote.
“Which is easy to do when you’re not losing your job, have millions in the bank and are healthy. She also posted a romantic video of her and Ken-doll husband Tom Brady riding horses while talking about balance in one’s marriage. Yaaaaay for you, Gisele. Now go away.”
Froelich’s advice to the mass of whining celebrities and influencers was to “turn off your recording devices, stop making it all about you and try to empathize with the 99.99 percent of the rest of us… by just going silent and not being a jerk. It won’t last forever, I promise. But our memory of your insane behavior will.”
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
