the times | Thursday May 26 2022 11
News
Ricky Gervais’s new Netflix stand-up
comedy special has been criticised for
featuring “dangerous” jokes about
transgender women and Aids.
The comedian makes several jokes
about gender identity and gays in
SuperNature, which began yesterday.
Early in the hour-long routine Ger-
vais, 60, jokes about “old-fashioned
women... the ones with wombs” as
being “fing dinosaurs”.
He adds: “I love the new women.
They’re great, aren’t they? The new
ones we’ve been seeing lately. The ones
with beards and cocks.”
Gervais then imagines a conversa-
tion between a trans rights supporter
and a woman who objects to sharing a
bathroom with a transgender woman.
“What about this person isn’t a lady?”
the trans ally asks. The female charac-
ter then responds: “Well, his penis.” The
trans supporter exclaims: “Her penis,
you fing bigot.”
“What if he rapes me?” the exchange
The BBC is to announce cuts to content
as it attempts to plug a £1.4 billion hole
in its finances.
Tim Davie, the director-general, is
due to address staff today, revealing a
savings initiative that has been the
source of speculation at the corpora-
tion. Senior editorial figures have been
kept in the dark about what will be
announced, but Davie has warned that
TV presenters warned
not to promote clothes
after host’s racing post
T
he BBC has
warned stars
not to promote
clothing
brands on
social media after a
presenter breached the
rules (Jake Kanter
writes).
The corporation said
it was concerned about
hosts promoting labels
with which they have a
commercial relationship
alongside their work for
the broadcaster, adding
that the issue had
become commonplace
in recent years.
The corporation
issued the reminder
after Gina Bryce, a
horse racing presenter,
tagged two clothing
fashion brands in a
Twitter post about
Radio 5 Live’s coverage
of the Grand National
last month.
Bee Smith Millinery, a
hat-making brand, and
Jane Lewis Atelier, a
luxury clothing
company, were
referenced in Bryce’s
tweet alongside animage of her at Aintree.
“Grand National Day.
Join me and the
amazing @bbc5live
team from 12pm today
for all the buildup,”
Bryce wrote.
Alex May, an audience
member, complained
that the tweet “appears
to be an undisclosed
marketing
communication” and
argued that the
corporation “prohibits
its presenters from
referring to the
broadcaster in ads or
promotions”.
The BBC’s editorial
guidelines state: “No
on-air talent should
promote products,
goods, services or
clothing they use
on air.”
It said the complaint
had merit, saying: “With
regards to a tweet
posted by Gina on the
day, tagging the brands
she was wearing, while
also tagging the BBC 5
Live page and discussing
her work, we do agree
that this would gobeyond the BBC’s usual
expectations.
“Where brands have a
relationship with
individuals, presenters
should take extra care.
This has been
investigated and
discussed with Gina.”
The Times recently
reported that Dan
Walker, the former BBC
Breakfast presenter, was
accepting free or
discounted gifts from
fashion brands and
showing them off on
social media. Walker,
44, received clothes and
shoes from Castore, a
UK sportswear firm, and
Oliver Sweeney, an
upmarket fashion brand.
The BBC said he had
not broken any rules, but
a source close to Walker
said he would no longer
accept gifts from third
parties to avoid the
perception of promotion.
He left the BBC last
week to join Channel 5.
Bryce has worked for
5 Live since 2017 and
previously hosted racing
coverage for Channel 4.
She has been contacted
for comment.Gina Bryce posted an
image of herself at Aintree
referencing two clothing
companies, while also
tagging in BBC 5 LiveDavie will reveal latest cutbacks to plug hole in BBC finances
Jake Kanter Media Correspondent nothing is off the table in terms of slash-
ing programming and services after the
government froze the licence fee at £
for two years.
On Monday Davie told the House of
Lords communications and digital
committee that the BBC would “cut
back on volume” in areas such as pod-
casting. He said investment in Bitesize,
the education service, would be
“slightly restrained” by the licence-fee
deal. Job losses are also on the cards
after Davie said the BBC would “have to
go further” in reducing headcount.
There is concern that Davie could
look to move the BBC rolling news
channel online or merge it with BBC
World News, the international channel.
Naja Nielsen, the BBC News digital
director, has taken responsibility for
the 24-hour channel, fuelling fears for
its future on television. Other specula-
tion has centred on local services, with
Rhodri Talfan Davies, who overseesBBC output in England, Wales, Scot-
land and Northern Ireland, set to
address his unit this morning.
A source familiar with Davie’s think-
ing said it would not be all bad news.
Davie is set to promise investment in
adapting the BBC for the future as it re-
prioritises its £3.8 billion income.
He has repeatedly referenced the
strategy applied to BBC4, which is now
a home for repeats, freeing up resour-
ces to invest in BBC2 without the back-lash that involves closing a service.
Separately today, Nadine Dorries,
the culture secretary, will set out plans
for the mid-term charter review.
The 12-month review will examine
the BBC’s “governance and regulatory
arrangements”, including whether its
audience complaints process is safe-
guarding impartiality.
The process will also examine the
BBC’s market dominance in areas such
as local news and radio.Number of gay
and bisexual
women on rise
Katie GibbonsGervais criticised for trans and
Aids jokes in his Netflix special
continues. “What if she rapes you, you
f***ing Terf whore.” Terf, an acronym
for trans-exclusionary radical feminist,
is often used pejoratively.
Robbie de Santos, director of com-
munications at Stonewall, said: “It is
disappointing that Ricky Gervais has
once again chosen to use his global
platform to make fun of trans people.
Punching down is never funny.”
Appearing on The One Show on
BBC1 on Tuesday, Gervais said
people took offence at his jokes
because “people mistake the sub-
ject of a joke with the target”.
Gervais’s special has also
won support. Helen Joyce,
an editor at The Economist
who last year
published a
critically
acclaimed book
arguing that biological sex is
immutable, said the transgen-der skit was “simply perfect”. Writing in
The Spectator, Debbie Hayton, a trans-
gender teacher and journalist, said
Gervais was not transphobic and was
right to “call out” trans activism.
“Whatever name we give it, trans
activist ideology has shaken the foun-
dations of our society, challenging the
meaning of such fundamental concepts
as men and women,” she said. “When it
becomes a courageous act to say that
transwomen are not women, we are
being oppressed and our freedoms
limited.”
In a comment to The Spectator,
Gervais added: “My target
wasn’t trans folk, but trans
activist ideology. I’ve
always con-
fronted dog-
ma that oppresses
people and limits freedom
of expression.”
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance
Against Defamation (Glaad), a
campaign group based in the US,
said the routine was “full ofgraphic, dangerous, anti-trans rants
masquerading as jokes”.
Glaad also took issue with Gervais’s
skit on the origins of Aids, in which God
creates the disease to punish gay men.
He says Aids was “amazing” in its hey-
day and men would make life-or-death
decisions about oral sex. “Now it’s, ‘Give
it here. I’ll take pills for the rest of my
life,’ ” he says. Glaad said: “Attention
Ricky and Netflix: people living with
HIV today, when on effective treat-
ment, lead long and healthy lives and
cannot transmit HIV to others.”
Gervais says at the start of his routine
that many of his jokes are laced with
irony. “When I say something I don’t
really mean, for comic effect, and you,
as an audience, you laugh at the wrong
thing because you know what the right
thing is. It’s a way of satirising atti-
tudes,” he explains.
Netflix declined to comment.Its
internal guidance states that it supports
artistic expression and does not censor
comedians.
Why Ricky Gervais makes me laugh , TJake Kanter Media Correspondent The proportion of young women who
do not identify as straight has almost
doubled in two years, according to data.
More than one in ten young women
in the UK identify as lesbian, gay,
bisexual or other, based on an annual
population survey by the Office for
National Statistics that relates to 2020.
Some 11.4 per cent of women aged 16
to 24 said they were not heterosexual,
this is an increase from 8.5 per cent in
2019 and 6.1 per cent in 2018.
Overall, the proportion of young
adults in the UK identifying as lesbian,
gay or bisexual (LGB) has almost
doubled in four years and stands at
nearly one in 12. Some 8 per cent of 16
to 24-year-olds identified as LGB in
2020, up from 6.6 in 2019 and 4.1 in 2016.
The rise reflects “an increasing trend
for this age group since 2014”, according
to the ONS. Around one in 20 (5.3 per
cent) people aged 16-24 identified as
bisexual in 2020. The proportion of all
adults identifying as LGB stood at 3.
per cent in 2020, nearly double the 1.
per cent in 2014.
Ricky Gervais also won
support for his stance