James Corden Says He 'Inadvertently' Copied Ricky Gervais Joke Almost Word-For-Word
Out of the egg yolk omelet frying pan and into the fire, James Corden has found himself at the center of yet another controversy.
The CBS talk show host has addressed allegations of plagiarism, admitting he’d “inadvertently” told a joke originally made by comedian Ricky Gervais.
“Inadvertently told a brilliant Ricky Gervais joke on the show last night, obviously not knowing it came from him,” Corden wrote on Twitter Tuesday. “It’s brilliant, because it’s a Ricky Gervais joke. You can watch all Ricky’s excellent specials on Netflix.”
During the opening monologue on “The Late Late Show” Monday evening, Corden poked fun at Elon Musk’s recent acquisition of Twitter with a nearly word-for-word gag that Gervais included in his 2018 Netflix stand-up special “Humanity.”
“When you see Elon Musk talk about Twitter, he does this thing where he goes, ‘It’s the town square,’” Corden said. “But it isn’t, because if someone puts up a poster in a town square that says ‘Guitar lessons available,’ you don’t get people in the town going: ‘I don’t wanna play the guitar!’ Well, then that sign wasn’t for you ― it was for somebody else! You don’t have to get mad about all of it.”
In which James Corden basically does a Ricky Gervais joke word for word pic.twitter.com/8MfkrBo8Y0
— Rupert Myers (@RupertMyers) November 1, 2022
Viewers quickly called out Corden for directly borrowing the joke from Gervais’ stand-up show, in which Gervais used an undeniably similar analogy about guitar lessons to explain his distaste for social media.
“That’s like going into a town square, seeing a big notice board, and there’s a notice ― ‘Guitar lessons’ ― and you go, ‘But I don’t fucking want guitar lessons!’” Gervais said in his special. “Fine! It’s not for you, then. Just walk away, don’t worry about it.”
Gervais, for his part, retweeted a side-by-side video comparison of the two jokes, writing: “The bit about the town square advert for guitar lessons is brilliant.”
In response to a fan who asked Gervais whether he’d given his approval for Corden to use the joke, he wrote: “No. I reckon one of the writers ‘came up with it’ for him. I doubt he would knowingly just copy such a famous stand up routine word for word like that.”
Ultimately, Gervais didn’t seem too bothered by the glaring similarities, as he deleted his first tweet ― “Started to feel sorry for him,” he explained to a follower when asked about it ― and retweeted Corden’s apology.
Inadvertently told a brilliant Ricky Gervais joke on the show last night, obviously not knowing it came from him. It’s brilliant, because it’s a Ricky Gervais joke. You can watch all Ricky’s excellent specials on Netflix. J x
— The Late Late Show with James Corden (@latelateshow) November 1, 2022
The almost immediate burying of the hatchet is a bit surprising, given Gervais’ past willingness to needle Corden.
Gervais ― poking fun at Corden being barred from the New York City restaurant Balthazar over his alleged bad behavior ― recently retweeted a scene from his Netflix series “After Life.”
“James fucking Corden ... Worst. Dinner party. Ever,” read the tweet accompanying the scene, in which Gervais reacts to his co-worker’s pick of top five dinner guests. (Much NSFW language is involved.)
James fucking Corden #AfterLife@rickygervais Worst. Dinner party. Ever. pic.twitter.com/JUUSay8RXK
— Sue💚 (@SueTaylor_) October 18, 2022
And who can forget when Gervais took a shot at Corden during his 2020 Golden Globes monologue, joking about the actor’s critically derided performance in a certain notorious box office bomb.
“The world got to see James Corden as a fat pussy,” Gervais said on stage, barely stifling his laughter. “He was also in the movie ‘Cats.’”
