FUNNY NOT FUNNY

James Corden Says He ‘Inadvertently’ Stole a Ricky Gervais Joke

Gervais called him out on Twitter, and Corden responded with flattery.

Late-night host James Corden is under fire again—this time for ripping off a Ricky Gervais joke. Corden told the joke, about the foolishness of people getting angry about a sign for guitar lessons, on Monday night’s show—and then Gervais cheekily posted the clip on Twitter on Tuesday morning. Gervais told a follower that he assumed a writer on the CBS show fed Corden the joke because “I doubt he would knowingly just copy such a famous stand up routine word for word like that.” And after Gervais deleted the clip, he explained to another follower that he “started to feel sorry for him.” Corden—who took heat last month for being rude to a waiter at Balthazar in Manhattan—took the flattery route after being called out. “Inadvertently told a brilliant Ricky Gervais joke on the show last night, obviously not knowing it came from him,” he tweeted. “It’s brilliant, because it’s a Ricky Gervais joke. You can watch all Ricky’s excellent specials on Netflix.”