Ricky Gervais criticized Tom Hanks for the Hollywood star's reaction to his Golden Globes speech earlier this year.
The British comedian had cracked scathing jokes about Hollywood’s elite that got both laughs and disapproving looks from the A-list audience.
Gervais, known for his no-holds-barred style of comedy, joked about Hollywood’s lack of diversity, film producer Harvey Weinstein, who has been accused by more than 80 women of sexual misconduct, and the suicide of financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Actor Tom Hanks, who received a lifetime achievement award at the ceremony, was caught giving a disapproving look during Gervais’ monologue that went viral on Twitter.
During an interview, Ricky criticized the "Forrest Gump" actor for being privileged for thinking he's "above" the joke.
Referring to viral memes sparked by Hanks' reaction to his speech, The Office creator said, "The big meme was Tom Hanks going: 'Why is he saying that?'"
And people are going, 'Oh look he's on his high horse'. But when Leonardo DiCaprio laughed, people loved him for it," he shared. "I could say a lot worse things about them, but I don't want it to get really nasty and for no reason."
He continued: "I think people who laugh at a joke, they get a round of applause because people go, 'Oh that's good, they can take it,' we don't want people to be above it.
"We even let people be privileged as long as they say, 'I know I'm privileged but I'm nothing really,' we don't like people to go 'Oh I deserve it, how dare you talk to me like that'.
"And we sense that, if we really think these people start believing their own hype, we want to bring them down a peg or two."
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