Messy bitch who loves drama James Corden is now beefing with Ricky Gervais over claims he told one of the comedian’s jokes almost word-for-word on his talkshow. At this point it genuinely wouldn’t surprise me to hear the White House has orchestrated a deep, elaborate campaign to cancel Corden and this is just another step in the process.
The story behind this particular feud which, to my dismay, does not include egg yolk omelettes, comes from the The Late Late Show host delivering an extended bit about Elon Musk buying Twitter on Monday’s episode.
However the joke was deadass almost identical to one Gervais told in 2018 during his standup show Humanity.
Journalist and barrister Rupert Myers uploaded a video to Twitter with the gags being told side-by-side.
In which James Corden basically does a Ricky Gervais joke word for word pic.twitter.com/8MfkrBo8Y0
— Rupert Myers (@RupertMyers) November 1, 2022
The English Breakfast is piping hot. Let’s compare the wording of each joke, shall we?
James Corden: “‘Cos if someone puts up a poster in a town square that says ‘guitar lessons available’, like you don’t get people in the town go[ing] ‘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.”
Ricky Gervais: “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!’ Fine, it’s not for you then. Just walk away. Don’t worry about it.”
I genuinely believe that James Corden is about four scandals away from announcing more Gavin & Stacey in a last ditch attempt to win the public back over.
— Stephanie Soteriou (@StephanieRiou) November 1, 2022
Except for the fact the wording is deeply similar, quite possibly the most disturbing part about all this is that Gervais kinda ate the joke up and Corden fumbled the delivery.
The amount of skill which goes into telling a gag that is almost indistinguishable to one which already exists — but somehow not doing it in a funny way — is mind-blowing. Corden truly has a gift.
Corden took to Twitter to respond to claims he’d stolen the joke.
“Inadvertently told a brilliant Ricky Gervais joke on the show last night, obviously not knowing it came from him,” he wrote.
“It’s brilliant, because it’s a Ricky Gervais joke. You can watch all Ricky’s excellent specials on Netflix. J x.”
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
I’d truly love to know how you inadvertently tell another comedian’s joke without knowing it came from them. This one will keep me up at night.
Gervais then responded to a Twitter user asking if Corden asked for permission to use his joke.
“No. I reckon one of the writers ‘came up with it’ for him,” he wrote.
“I doubt he would knowingly just copy such a famous stand up routine word-for-word like that.”
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.
— Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais) November 1, 2022
I know Gervais isn’t implying this, but I’m obsessed with the idea that one of the writers on The Late Late Show deliberately whacked the joke in there to stitch Corden up. Some Twitter users shared this same sentiment, so my tin foil hat is firmly on.
To be fair, if I worked in the writers room for James Corden, I too would fuck him over for a laugh
— Vittorio (@thatvittorio) November 1, 2022
Seen lots of people tweeting this about how awful James Corden is for nicking the joke, when I’m assuming someone in Corden’s writers’ room fucked him over, which is just delicious pic.twitter.com/L8a6peQRvd
— Hannah Jane Parkinson (@ladyhaja) November 1, 2022
This is, of course, the second feud Corden has gotten embroiled in recently. New York restaurateur Keith McNally has been ripping him a new one over claims he was “abusive” to staff at his restaurant Balthazar.
McNally alleged Corden “began yelling like crazy” when a staff member brought his wife an egg yolk omelette (which already had to be remade ‘cos there was “a little bit of egg white” mixed in there) with fries instead of salad. Sacré bleu!
Corden copped a lifetime ban from Balthazar over his rude behaviour, which McNally then rescinded after the talkshow host called him to apologise.
Look, if you don’t like James Corden’s show, don’t watch it. It’s like going into a town square and seeing a poster that says ‘Guitar Lessons’ and you go “but I don’t want guitar lessons!”
— Rhys James (@rhysjamesy) November 1, 2022
Corden also issued an on-air apology, which McNally initially accepted. However, loads of Balthazar staffers called bullshit on it and, after watching the apology for a second time, McNally decided it was “contrived and phony”.
The restauranteur also slammed other comments Corden had made in interviews with The Time Magazine and The New York Times.
As fucking annoying as Ricky “Edge Lord” Gervais is, this new event in the James Corden cancellation saga is undeniably delicious. I’ve never wanted him to roast another celebrity more, just so the downfall of Corden can continue.