THE CELEBRITY AUCTION
22 October 2015
Ricky Gervais and Dr Brian May are planning to work together to tackle animal cruelty issues, even though the Queen star thinks some of the comedian’s language on Twitter is “appalling”. The Office star and legendary guitarist met at the Daily Mirror’s Animal Hero Awards on Wednesday night in London, as Brian presented the funnyman with an award for Outstanding Contribution to Animal Welfare.
Asked how he felt to be at the ceremony, Ricky told us: “It’s great, it’s amazing. I almost started crying immediately.” The humble comedian admitted he felt “mildly embarrassed” to be handed the award for his impassioned tweets but was happy to be able to give animals a voice. He said: “There are people that really do stuff and go out there and risk their lives and stuff. I do feel this is a tweeting award. But it must have taken months and years to get 100 signatures before [Twitter], standing outside Tesco. But now it can take a few hours. It’s easily the best thing about social media. That .. and pictures of me in the bath.”
Ricky also expressed his anger over the German hunter who paid thousands of pounds to shoot the largest elephant in Africa for 50 years. He said: “This is what frustrates me! So, someone pays £50,000 to shoot an animal and they say it goes towards conservation. But it’s a poor country, they’d rather you give them the money and not shoot all their animals. This is the point!
‘The vote on whether to relax the hunting has been dropped in the face of probable defeat. Well done everyone. We won.’ Posted by Ricky Gervais on Tuesday, 14 July 2015
“Now he’s really annoyed that Delta Air Lines are refusing to take them. So it wasn’t about the trophy at the time but now it’s like, ‘Give me the head?’ Why do you want the head?
“It’s the way they move the goalposts. Oh, you just want to shoot something. You’re a murderer.
“Vets don’t shoot animals with bow and arrows and then lie down next to them taking a f****** selfie. So why are you doing it? It’s nothing to do with conservation. It’s that you wanted to see what a bow and arrow does to a giraffe’s face, that’s what it is!”
Ricky Gervais the animal activist: Comedian’s best snarling take downs of ‘cruel’ hunters, testers and bull fighters.
Brian praised the Derek star and revealed he’d like to go for dinner with him to discuss projects they could work on together.
“I think Ricky is amazing and this is a side of things which is growing,” he said. “I think we’re only seeing beginning. Social media will become more and more important over the next few years and Ricky is a master at it and luckily his heart is in the right place. His talent is very significant. He has this amazing way with words. It’s what makes him a great comic but it’s what also makes him a great advocate, because it’s very hard to argue with Ricky Gervais. Some of his language is appalling. You’re tweeting and thinking, ‘Ah, I wonder if my kids are going to see this’. But it’s always to a point and always with a purpose. He’s direct and lucid and absolutely sweeps away any kind of reserve that people might have. You are challenged.”
Asked if he’d sit down and have dinner with him to discuss issues moving forward, he said: “I’d love to, actually. I was very happy to meet him tonight, it was a bonus for me. Yes, I think we will work together.”
Ricky seemed pretty enthusiastic and shouted: “Yes, let’s do this!”
They’d be a force to be reckoned with. READ MORE