Veteran comedian Ricky Gervais has pushed back against the claims that he was linked to a joke of a sexual nature that got a Nurse suspended. According to Nurse’s claims, the joke that he said was not his own, but a repetition of something that Ricky Gervais said. Gervais claimed he had never said this joke anywhere in public or private.
Ricky Gervais pushes back on claims his joke got nurse suspended
Veteran comedian Ricky Gervais, who has seen his share of controversies over the past years, was dragged into the case of a Nurse, who allegedly made a sexualized remark about children to a colleague, only to claim later that he was repeating a joke originally said by Ricky Gervais.
James Murray, the nurse, reportedly said, “If they can bleed, they can breed.” During a Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) tribunal ruling, the nurse admitted to saying the words, but claimed Ricky Gervais was the one who originally said it.
Responding to the claims, The Office star said on his X account that he “never said anything like this in a sketch, a screenplay, stand-up or privately (via Mirror).”
Meanwhile, the tribunal panel wrote that Murray was engaging in a “highly inappropriate and unprofessional conversation of a sexual nature involving children” with a colleague on July 22, 2022. Though Murray claimed that his words were a joke and were misinterpreted, the panel concluded that he would be suspended for six months for his conduct.
“Although described at the time as a ‘joke’, the panel determined that such language has no place in a professional healthcare setting. The panel considered that this conduct demonstrated a serious lack of judgment,” the ruling said, “It was capable of causing shock and distress to colleagues, risked reputational damage to the profession, and was inconsistent with the standards expected of a registered nurse.”
