Just weeks after being flamed online for allegedly being rude to staffers at a NYC restaurant, James Corden is on his back foot again, apologizing for “inadvertently” stealing a joke from Ricky Gervais.
According to the U.K. Mirror, Corden’s The Late Late Show highlighted a Monday night monologue bit in which Corden made fun of the idea of Twitter being seen as a “town square.” However, internet users — and Gervais himself — were quick to point out it was nearly a carbon copy of a joke Ricky made in his 2018 stand-up show, Humanity.
After jabbing the “brilliant” joke Corden told, Ricky tweeted — then deleted — a comment denying he’d given permission to use the material, the U.K. Mirror reports.
On Tuesday, Corden acknowledged the situation, tweeting fans, “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.”
Though Corden’s tweet had replies turned off, many retweeted it, making their voices heard. “Inadvertently told a WORD-FOR-WORD joke (AKA: STOLE),” read one, who called Corden “hackish and unfunny.”
Others sounded off on Corden’s Instagram, even to an older video of Harry Styles singing “Happy Birthday” to Corden months back at Madison Square Garden. “You stole Ricky’s jokes mate. Wtf,” read one of many comments.
Gervais and Corden have traded barbs over the years — in some cases at public events. The Office creator jabbed Corden’s Cats while hosting the Golden Globes in 2020. His Netflix show After Life also took a couple of shots at the “Carpool Kamikaze” star, who seemed to touch off the feud when he sent up Gervais on his U.K. show Horne and Corden back in 2009.
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