The Golden Globe Awards and Ricky Gervais were one entity for a time, characterized by the comedian's no-holds-barred approach to hosting Hollywood's second-glitziest annual ceremony. Their incendiary love affair began in 2010; continued through to 2012, and then revived itself in both 2016 and 2020, leaving jaws agape in its wake as Gervais took no prisoners in front of the cameras.
Despite brutally roasting the likes of Jennifer Lawrence, Mel Gibson, Charlie Sheen, and Sean Penn up on the podium, the 64-year-old chose not to attack two stars from the Game of Thrones universe: Jason Momoa (who played Dothraki chieftain Khal Drogo) and Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister), who he'd penned a joke about in the lead-up to the big night.
Towards the end of his latest stand-up comedy special Mortality, which is now streaming globally on Netflix, Gervais revealed how his nerves got the better of him when faced with the prospect of a miffed Momoa (per Variety).
"I said earlier, I've never had a joke stopped by the Golden Globes, and that is absolutely true. But I've just remembered the joke that I stopped myself, 'cause I bottled it a bit, and I think I was being over-cautious. I want to share it with you. So I've got the chance to introduce Jason Momoa. So I thought the meta joke would be to show my hypocrisy and my cowardice. I'm OK to slag off actors — who's scared of actors? — but when it comes to a big dude, right, I'm not so brave.
According to Gervais, a friend of his ultimately dissuaded him from doing the bit.
"So I was going to go, 'I've got nothing bad to say about our next presenter, because he's got a c*** like a baby's arm,' right? And I told my mate I was gonna do that, and my mate went, 'Do you think people will think that's racist?' I was like, 'Why is it racist?' 'Well, because he's a person of color.' And I went, 'No, it's nothing to do with that. It's to do with the fact that he's so big that he'd probably have a c*** like a baby's arm, right?'
So I didn't do it. And I had a great follow-up, so I'll tell you the whole thing. This is the whole thing. What I was gonna do: I'll go out and go, 'I've got nothing bad to say about our next presenter, because he's got a c*** like a baby's arm — unlike Peter Dinklage, who's got an arm like a baby's c***.'"
Ricky Gervais Would've Targeted Justin Timberlake at 2025 Golden Globes
Ricky Gervais as Tony Johnson in After Life
Netflix
Meanwhile, the star of Extras and The Office had a list of jokes in mind if he'd returned to host the 2025 edition of the Globes. Posting on his X/Twitter profile at the beginning of the year, Gervais claimed it had been "a pretty good year for material" before namedropping a selection of victims.
"Hello, and welcome to the 82nd Golden Globe awards. What a year it's been. Hundreds of entertainers jumped at the chance to go to The Vatican to meet The Pope. Many from Hollywood. Obviously they weren't content with only being part of the 2nd biggest pedo ring in the world…
"Justin Timberlake was convicted of Drink Driving. If he'd have gone to jail he'd have heard the words 'Sexy Back’'a lot more often. Kevin Hart said that being at one of Diddy's parties was uncomfortable, as he wouldn't leave him alone. Eventually he had to shout 'Imma Midget, not a child.'"
Nikki Glaser is hosting the 2026 Golden Globes, which airs via CBS and Paramount+ on Sunday, January 11, 2026.
