Tension started back in 2009, when James Corden’s parody sketch on ‘Horne and Corden’ took a cheeky jab at Ricky Gervais. Little did we know, this jape would be the spark that ignited a decade-long tiff between the two British entertainers.
Since then, Gervais hasn’t hesitated to criticise Corden. Remember, Ricky Gervais isn’t one to bite his tongue. Renowned for his unabashed monologues at award shows, the comedian never hesitates to give a piece of his mind. So, it was no surprise when he took aim at Corden’s role in the ill-received musical, ‘Cats’.
Gervais quipped at the 2020 Golden Globes, “The world got to see James Corden as a fat p***y.” Adding salt to the wound, he said, “He was also in the movie Cats, but no one saw that.”
Gervais continued, “And there reviews? Oh shocking. I saw one that said, ‘This is the worst thing to happen to cats since dogs.'”
Another dig came James Corden’s direction when the then host of The Late Late Show, faced a temporary ban from Balthazar’s in Soho in 2021 after allegedly mistreating staff. Owner Keith McNally took to Instagram, calling Corden a “tiny cretin of a man and the most abusive customer to my Balthazar servers since the restaurant opened 25 years ago,” though he later reversed the ban within a day. Amidst the controversy, Ricky Gervais didn’t miss the opportunity to poke fun at Corden. On Twitter, Gervais shared a scene from his Netflix show, “After Life”, where characters humorously discussed Corden’s suitability as a dinner guest. The conversation also made a jesting reference to Corden’s “Carpool Karaoke” segment, with one character suggesting Corden works “as a chauffeur, mainly.”
Meanwhile, in a separate tweet, Gervais responded to a sarcastic comment praising Corden’s talents.
“I’m sorry, but when you’re as talented as James Corden you get to treat people however the f**k you want. That’s the price we pay for the undeniable magic he brings to the table. And I’d gladly pay it, and so would all of you. He’s THAT good.”
A Twitter user indicated a tweet supporting Corden might be sarcastic, saying, “I’m pretty sure it was sarcasm.”
In 2022, the Late Late Show host faced scrutiny for a joke resembling one from Ricky Gervais.
It all kicked off when Corden shared his thoughts on Elon Musk’s recent Twitter takeover. Delving into Musk’s description of Twitter as a “town square”, Corden quipped, “When you see Elon Musk talk about Twitter, he goes, ‘It’s the town square.’ 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!’ But that sign wasn’t for you, it was for somebody else — you don’t have to get mad about all of it.”
Ricky Gervais’ take in his 2018 Netflix special ‘Humanity’ was in the content of irrelevant feedback from angry titter users, “… [It’s] like going into a town square, and seeing a big notice board that says, ‘Notice: Guitar lessons,’ and going: ‘I don’t fucking want guitar lessons!’ … Fine! It’s not for you, then. Just walk away, don’t worry about it.”
In a twist, Ricky Gervais posted a clip of James Corden’s monologue, cheekily joking, “The bit about the town square advert for guitar lessons is brilliant.”
However, in a gentlemanly move, he soon deleted the tweet, expressing he “started to feel sorry for [Corden].” He speculated, “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.”
James Corden took to Twitter, acknowledging the similarity. He stated, “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.”