Friday, July 17, 2020

Ricky Gervais brands 'cancel culture' a 'weird sort of fascism' as he defends free speech

Ricky Gervais has continued to slam 'cancel culture' as he defended the use of free speech in a new interview.

The comedian, 59, who delivered a series of controversial gags at the 77th Golden Globes awards ceremony back in January, described 'wokeness' as 'a weird sort of fascism' amid calls for 'the free exchange of information and ideas.'

He said: 'There's this new weird sort of fascism of people thinking they know what you can say and what you can't and it's a really weird thing. Just because you're offended it doesn't mean you're right.'

The After Life creator shared his thoughts on online shaming after 150 celebrated authors, academics and journalists including Margaret Atwood, Salman Rushdie, Martin Amis and Noam Chomsky signed a letter criticising 'cancel culture'.

The media personality said on talkRadio earlier this month: 'There's this new trendy myth that people who want free speech want to say awful things all the time.

'It's just isn't true, it protects everyone. If you're mildly left-wing on Twitter, you're suddenly Trotsky, right?

'If you're mildly conservative, you're Hitler and if you're centrist and you look at both arguments, you're a coward. Just because you're offended it doesn't mean you're right.'

A few days earlier, the actor said his hit TV show The Office would struggle to air today due to online 'outrage mobs'.

SOURCE 

1 comment:

ScienceABC123 said...

The Left thinks "free speech" gives them the right to quash all other points of view. It's the fascist totalitarianism the Left is historically known for.