You probably don’t even remember the 2011 Golden Globes. Just a blur of dresses and self righteous speeches. But Ricky Gervais was the host and he made a rather bleh joke at the expense of actor Tim Allen and of all his jokes, he regrets that one.
At the ceremony in question, the Brit introduced presenters Allen and his “Toy Story” co-star Tom Hanks.
“The first [presenter] is an actor, producer, writer, and director, whose movies have grossed over $3.5 billion at the box office,” Gervais, now 58, said at the time. “He’s won two Academy Awards and three Golden Globes for his powerful and varied performances. … The other is Tim Allen.”
Hanks, 63, immediately responded, telling the audience, “Like many of you, we recall back when Ricky Gervais was a slightly chubby but very kind comedian.”
“Neither of which is he now,” Allen, 66, said.
“It’s a fine joke,” Gervais told THR of the jab. “I’m teasing Tim Allen. But anyone standing next to Tom Hanks, unless it’s Dustin Hoffman or Robert Redford or Robert De Niro, that could be me. But it happened to be Tim Allen.”
Gervais clarified he has “nothing against” the former “Home Improvement” star.
“He’s a good actor,” he said. “He’s probably a nice bloke. So even though there’s no malice and I can justify it comedically and everyone laughed, I didn’t want Tim Allen to think, ‘Oh, that was written for me. Why me?’ Well, because you were standing next to Tom Hanks.”