Ricky Gervais ups tour security after ‘receiving death threats’

Ricky Gervais has reportedly upped the security for his tour after receiving death threats.

Ahead of his Armageddon tour set to kick off in Cardiff on Wednesday (14 June), the comedian has ordered a full team of security.

A source told The Sun: "Ricky has been made aware threats have been made to his life. His offices haven’t shown them to him, but have told him very disturbing letters have come in for him.

"Ricky is very aware of the dangers and he can afford whatever security he wants, so he thought it was a no-brainer."

One of the alleged death threats was about an "anti-trans" joke he made in his Netflix special SuperNature.

It is reported the 61-year-old is set to discuss God, Hitler and the ­culture of offence in his upcoming tour.

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It comes after the comedian confessed to regretting one single joke during his entire career. The joke in question was during the 2011 Golden Globes when a joke about Tim Allen fell "flat" – or at least according to Allen.

Introducing two celebrities to the stage, Gervais said: "What can I say about our next two presenters?"

He added: "The first is an actor, producer and director whose movies have grossed over $3.5 billion at the box office. He’s won two Academy Awards and three Golden Globes for his powerful and varied performances, starring in such films as Philadelphia, Forrest Gump, Castaway, Apollo 13 and Saving Private Ryan."

The comedian finished by saying: "The other is Tim Allen."

Allen expressed his confusion in an interview, saying he simply did not get it.

Gervais latertold the Hollywood Reporter in 2020 that he regretted the joke "because I think [Allen] took it wrong".

"The joke was him and Tom Hanks," Gervais said. "So I came out and said, ‘Our next two presenters, the first has won five Oscars, combined box office of five billion dollars. And the other, Tim Allen.’ Right? It’s a fine joke. I’m teasing Tim Allen."

Indy100 reached out to Ricky Gervais' rep for comment.

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