A petition to remove an offensive joke from Ricky Gervais’ new stand-up special has gained more than 4,300 signatures.
In a teaser for the comic’s upcoming Netflix show, Armageddon, he refers to terminally ill children as “baldies” and joked that the kids, supported by the Make a Wish foundation, were “f****** r*******” for not “wishing to get better”.
The remarks in the trailer have outraged many, particularly parent Sess Cova, who was prompted to set up the online petition in response to his “disrespectful” comments as her daughter Katy battles cancer.
Taking to Change.org, Ms Cova wrote: “I am writing this petition as a parent whose child, Katy, bravely battled cancer. The recent skit by Ricky Gervais on Netflix, where he refers to terminally ill children as ‘baldy’, is not just disrespectful but also deeply hurtful.
“It mocks the courage and resilience of these young fighters who face their illness with grace and beauty despite their baldness.”
The parent, whose initial goal is to reach 5,000 signatures, said the former Office star “crossed the line” and wants him to understand that sick children “are not a punchline, their lives aren’t a joke”.
She continued: “This is not only unfunny but deeply offensive. I can't comprehend how a writer or anyone at Netflix could greenlight such appalling content. We must demand the removal of this skit.
“Gervais has provoked the anger of parents living with their child diagnosed with cancer, and we won't back down in fiercely advocating for them.
“He completely crossed the line. Our children are not a punchline, their lives aren’t a joke.”
Sharing their support of the petition, which currently stands at 4,346 signatures at the time of writing, one parent commented: “Signing because my cancer warrior went through hell.
“She isn’t a punch line and neither are all of these other warriors that had their childhood ripped away from them.
“I’m signing this for the families that witnessed this torture and suffered alongside their babies.”
The furore follows Ashley Cain’s criticism of Gervais comedy special on Instagram.
The former footballer's eight-month old daughter Azaylia died in April 2021 following a battle with leukaemia.
The 33-year old now dedicates his time to raise vital funds to help other children battling cancer through a charity they established in Azaylia’s name.
Ahead of its release, Cain called out the Episodes star and said it’s not okay to “make a mockery of dying children”.
We wish we were surprised by reports that @RickyGervais has used ableist slurs in his new @Netflix special 📺
— Scope (@scope) December 5, 2023
Language like this has consequences.
And we’re just not accepting the explanation that Gervais uses to try and justify this language 🧵 1/4
He shared on Instagram: “I was actually a fan of Ricky Gervais but I had to turn off his stand-up the other day as I was watching it with family and there were multiple jokes about terminally ill children and especially kids with cancer.
"Some things are just not funny. Especially to those parents who are left behind.
“You can get cancelled for so many things these days but it’s ok to make a mockery of dying children. I’m actually so mad about this.”
Gervais' comments have also come under fire by disability charity Scope, who warned that “language like this has consequences” and that “the people this kind of language impacts are real” in a tweet on Tuesday.
They wrote: “Language like this has consequences. The stage is real. Netflix is real. The people this kind of language impacts are real.
“'Joking’ about this kind of language trivialises it. It risks normalising the abuse that many disabled people face on a day-to-day basis.”
The Standard has contacted Ricky Gervais’ representatives for comment.
