Despite reports that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association was furious with Ricky Gervais following last year’s Golden Globes and his controversial performance, the HFPA and NBC have officially brought back Gervais to host again this year.
2012 will be the third straight year Gervais has hosted the awards show.
Gervais commented on his hiring on Twitter saying, “Just told Billy Crystal he’d better not use any of my holocaust or pedophile material at The Oscars.”
Following last year’s telecast, the president of the HFPA said that Gervais had “crossed the line” and that his jokes were “totally unacceptable.” But what they forgot to note was that the controversy brought some much-needed attention to the show that tends to live in the shadow of its more respected older brother Oscar.
Some celebrities, like Judd Apatow and Robert Downey, Jr. weren’t fans of Gervais work, the latter saying the jokes were “sinister” and “hugely mean-spirited.” But others, like Johnny Depp, took jokes at himself in stride and even appeared on Gervais’ BBC series “Life is Short” to poke fun at the controversy.
Frankly, everyone around these parts loved Gervais and his return is probably the only thing that would get me to watch that show. How do you feel?