Filed under: Celebrity Gossip
Ricky Gervais has been taken to task by some of his fellow stand-up comedians over his repeated use of the word "mong" on Twitter.And the star of The Office has responded in the manner of his most famous creation, David Brent, by telling his critics that - actually - they're wrong because the meaning of the word has changed.
He didn't say "FACT" though, thankfully.
Ricky argued that the word may once have been used as an insult against those with Down's Syndrome, but is now less offensive.
He said: "Just to clarify for uptight people stuck in the past. The word mong means Down's Syndrome about as much as the word gay means happy. I never use the word mong to mean anything to do with Downs Syndrome."
But comedian Richard Herring wasn't buying that and gave Ricky a pasting on his blog.
He said: "Ricky Gervais is new to Twitter and seems to have spent the first couple of weeks mainly posting pictures of himself pulling the kind of faces that school children pull to parody the disabled and calling people 'mongs'.
"I think many comics are guilty of using [the word "mong"] as convenient and humourless punchlines. I don't think any of them would do the same with the word 'n***er' or 'p**i' but they're happy to use 'mong' or 'retard' as a means of getting a laugh. And audiences will laugh at those words too and rarely even complain about them.
"If the words are upsetting some people and perpetuating a stereotype, isn't it more noble and thoughtful to just admit you might have made a mistake and stop?"
And a couple of other stand-ups that you've probably not heard of also criticised Ricky, who nevertheless remained defiant and even suggested that there was a bit of sour grapes going on.
He said: "Dear fans. Don't give the haters any attention. Those people aren't really offended by the things I say - they are offended by my success."
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Celebs are always seeming to get in trouble on Twitter...