James Corden can’t catch a break this month. First, he refused his omelet without an egg white at Balthazar, and now he can’t tell a Ricky Gervais joke from 2018 on his talk show. During Corden’s Late Late Show monologue last night, the beleaguered host poked fun at Elon Musk’s recent Twitter takeover. Can you blame him? Not everyone can stand this guy! “When you see Elon Musk talking about Twitter, he’s like, ‘Well, it’s the town square,’” Corden said. “But it is not. Because if someone puts up a poster in a town square that says ‘guitar lessons available’, you’re not going to make people in town go ‘I don’t want to play guitar! I want to play the piano, motherfucker!” “That sign wasn’t for you, it was for someone else. You don’t need to be angry!’ Unfortunately, while Corden was paying attention to one of the world’s great defenders of free speech (and by free speech, we mean $8-a-month speech), he was disrespecting another: Ricky Gervais. Taking time out from humiliating and humiliating trans people, Gervais noted that Corden’s joke is eerily similar to one featured on his 2018 stand-up show Humanity: “That’s the way the world is, people take everything personally. I think the world revolves around them, especially on Twitter. I’m not tweeting at anyone, I’m just tweeting. I don’t know who is following me. they may follow me without me knowing, choose to read my tweet and then take it personally. It’s like going to a town square, and there’s a notice for guitar lessons, and you go, “But I don’t want guitar lessons!” Ricky Gervais Humanity – Guitar Lessons Still, never one to take things personally, Gervais didn’t hold the joke against Corden. “I think one of the writers ‘thought it out’ for him,” Gervais wrote to a fan who asked about the joke. “I doubt he would knowingly copy such a famous stand up routine word for word like that.” Now well versed in the art of public controversy, Corden tweeted that he “inadvertently told a brilliant Ricky Gervais joke on the show last night, apparently not knowing it came from him.” “It’s great because it’s a Ricky Gervais joke,” Corden tweeted. “You can watch all of Ricky’s great deals on Netflix.” G/O Media may receive a commission What is missing there are the words “I’m sorry”, “I apologize” or even “I regret”. The art of not apologizing is Corden’s secret weapon. For example, he recently “explained” but did not apologize for acting like a “tiny cretin” to staff at Balthazar restaurant in New York. However, he said he has “such respect” for anyone who does “this kind of work.” We’re guessing the “job” he’s describing is “waiting for an apology from James Corden.” [via Insider]
