CBS’ late-night funnyman James Corden acknowledged that a joke about Elon Musk taking over Twitter he told on his Late Late Show, came from comedian Ricky Gervais.
During the Monday night monologue on his CBS show, Corden joked about Elon Musk taking over Twitter and how the billionaire often refers to the platform as the town square.
“When you see Elon Musk talk about Twitter, he does this thing where he goes, ‘It’s the town square,’” Corden said on The Late Late Show. “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 wanna play the guitar!’ But that sign wasn’t for you, it was for somebody else — you don’t have to get mad about all of it.”
The joke copied a segment from Gervais’ 2018 Netflix special Humanity where he reflected on the criticism he received from Twitter trolls.
“[It’s] like going into a town square, and seeing a big notice board that says, ‘Notice: Guitar lessons,’ and going: ‘I don’t fucking want guitar lessons!’ … Fine! It’s not for you, then. Just walk away, don’t worry about it,” Gervais said in 2018.
Gervais shared the clip of Corden’s monologue and tweeted “The bit about the town square advert for guitar lessons is brilliant.”
Gervais later deleted the tweet and said that he “started to feel sorry for [Corden].”
“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,” he said.
Though it likely came from a member of his writing staff, James Corden acknowledged that the joke came from the Gervais special.
“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,” Corden tweeted, which Gervais shared.
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
Corden had a difficult month of October after he was banned from the upscale Manhattan restaurant Balthazar for allegedly mistreating staff; the owner rescinded the ban after Corden apologized to him.
“James Corden just called me and apologized profusely,” the owner said. “Having fucked up myself more than most people, I strongly believe in second chances … Anyone magnanimous enough to apologize to a deadbeat layabout like me (and my staff) doesn’t deserve to be banned from anywhere. Especially Balthazar.”
Corden later told the Times U.K. that some of the accusations against him were overblown.
“It’s been the most surreal moment,” Corden said “I mean, it’s so odd. I never screamed at anyone, I didn’t shout, didn’t call anyone a name or swear or use derogatory language. … How is it remotely a thing? And that be OK? And now it’s fact, and that’s that. When that person who posted the story wasn’t even there. Just so odd. People keep telling me, ‘This is the world we live in!’ And I don’t know if that’s right. I think it’s a world we’re actively creating, engaging in and encouraging. It’s scary. Really scary.”
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