Coronavirus: Ricky Gervais tells celebs to stop 'complaining about being in a mansion with a swimming pool'
Ricky Gervais has a message to his fellow celebrities who are in isolation due to COVID-19: Stop complaining. In an interview with the Sun, the 58-year-old comedian praised essential workers in the U.K. and said rich stars have nothing to whine about while locked up in their mansions.
"After this is over I never want to hear people moaning about the welfare state again, I never want to hear people moaning about nurses again. Or porters," he shared.
"These people are doing 14-hour shifts and not complaining. Wearing masks, and being left with sores, after risking their own health and their families’ health selflessly," Gervais continued. "But then I see someone complaining about being in a mansion with a swimming pool. And, you know, honestly, I just don’t want to hear it."
The writer noted the After Life star had a "serious, almost angry tone" on the topic. According to the Sun, Gervais was doing the interview from his $12 million dollar home.
Sam Smith was slammed for posting about a “quarantine meltdown.” Ellen DeGeneres received backlash for likening the quarantine to "being in jail." The talk show host has been isolating at her $27 million home in Montecito, Calif.
Gervais said his upbringing taught him to appreciate the highs and lows in life.
"I was born in the beginning of the '60s in Battle Hospital in Reading. And that should have been an omen. Having gone by the title, I should have known life was going to be a struggle. And it was — I was the fourth child of an immigrant laborer. My dad worked on building sites all his life, until he was 70. He got up every day at 5:30am," Gervais shared.
"Men worked hard, but women worked miracles. Because when my dad finished his work that was his own time. But my mum didn’t stop working, women didn’t stop working. Carers didn’t stop working, all the women in my family were carers in some respect," he continued.
"I had no money growing up, I didn’t have any until I was 40. But I still had everything. My mum, she gardened, she grew, she cooked, she sewed, she knitted, she decorated, she did everything she could. And she gave me everything I wanted except money. I also realized growing up that all the best things were free — friends, nature, learning and healthcare," Gervais said. "And that’s why I gladly pay my taxes. And that’s why I clap the NHS."
The NHS, or National Health Service, is the publicly-funded healthcare system of the United Kingdom.
Gervais’s commentary on Hollywood shouldn’t come as a surprise. Remember the Golden Globes?
For the latest coronavirus news and updates, follow along at https://news.yahoo.com/coronavirus. According to experts, people over 60 and those who are immunocompromised continue to be the most at risk. If you have questions, please reference the CDC and WHO’s resource guides.
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