James Corden has responded to criticism that he copied a joke originally made by comedian Ricky Gervais, saying he delivered it “obviously not knowing it came from him”.
The host of The Late Late Show gave a monologue on Monday, addressing Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover, and told a gag that viewers noted was remarkably similar to one from Gervais’s 2018 standup show Humanity.
Gervais drew attention to the similarities in a now-deleted Twitter post.
In the joke, Corden says: “When you see Elon Musk talk about Twitter he does this thing where he goes, ‘Well, it’s the town square’.
“But it isn’t. Because if someone puts up a poster in a town square that says ‘guitar lessons available’, you don’t get people in the town going, ‘I don’t want to play the guitar! I want to play the piano, you piece of shit!’
“Well that sign wasn’t for you, it was for someone else. You don’t have to get mad about all of it!”
Responding to the accusations, Corden tweeted from The Late Late Show account: “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”.
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
Gervais defended his fellow comedian earlier in the day after a Twitter user asked if Corden asked permission to use the joke.
He replied: “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.”
In April, Corden said he would be stepping down as host of The Late Late Show.
The actor and comedian recently made headlines after he was banned from New York’s Balthazar restaurant for alleged bad behaviour. The restaurant’s owner, Keith McNally, claimed he had been “extremely nasty” to his staff on two separate occasions.
Corden later addressed the incident during an episode of The Late Late Show and said it was “never my intention” to upset staff, but acknowledged he had been “ungracious” during the incident. McNally has since overturned the ban.