Golden Globes host Ricky Gervais just dropped some bombs on Hollywood in his opening monologue for the 2020 Golden Globe Awards, and he's not sorry. Interestingly enough, he's only expressed regret for one past joke as host -- back in 2011, when he made a joke at Tim Allen's expense. Now Allen has shared how he feels about that joke, and his thoughts on Gervais' new 2020 jokes.
As the lead-up to his 2011 joke, Ricky Gervais had a long-winded introduction for the next two Golden Globes presenters. He said the first had won two Oscars and three Golden Globes, had a combined box office of $3.5 billion, etc., etc. He went on and on and on, clearly about Tom Hanks, then ended with a dismissive "The other is Tim Allen."
That's the joke Ricky Gervais regrets, because he didn't think Tim Allen took it well, and it wasn't specifically about Tim Allen. It would've been true of anyone standing next to Tom Hanks.
Fast-forward to 2020 and Tim Allen told Page Six what he thought about that joke:
Perhaps I didn’t get it … I wasn’t the only one. Tom and I even said [at the time]: ‘I didn’t really get it. It’s like he didn’t finish the joke. It just went flat.’ Later that night he said, ‘It didn’t go so well.’ He kind of apologized.
You can actually watch a clip of that show in a video below. Tom Hanks and Tim Allen gave it right back to Ricky Gervais after the intro, before presenting the award on stage. Here's what they said about him on stage in 2011:
Tom Hanks: Like many of you, we recall back when Ricky Gervais was a slightly chubby but very kind comedian.Tim Allen: Neither of which is he now.
That seemed to be scripted, so Ricky Gervais was willing to both dish it out and take it. However, as you might imagine, Tim Allen was just fine with the shots Gervais fired at Hollywood during last Sunday's 2020 awards:
I thought he was pretty sharp. A couple of things made me laugh out loud.
Ricky Gervais blasted Hollywood and said they were too out-of-touch with the real world to be making political speeches. He also made some wild Cats jokes, among other things. Tom Hanks' reaction face instantly became the new "welp" meme. A lot of fans loved Ricky's monologue for ribbing Hollywood and it sounds like Tim Allen was also fine with it, since he wasn't exactly the butt of any of those jokes.
Here's a video from Ricky Gervais' 2011 joke about Tim Allen:
I still can't believe that's the one joke he singled out to regret. Meanwhile, Tim Allen is doing just fine. He and Tom Hanks reunited for Toy Story 4, which made over a $1 billion at the 2019 box office. And Allen's sitcom Last Man Standing just debuted Season 8 on a new night on Fox. He's amazed at how popular the show has remained and knows exactly who to thank (besides the fans).
Last Man Standing continues Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET on Fox (not ABC).
