Gervais teases Hollywood glitterati

Ricky Gervais showed no signs of toning down his act as he embarked on his third stint as the scathing steward of the Golden Globes.

After last year’s shindig, when Gervais insulted nearly everyone in sight, a welcome back for the British funnyman seemed doubtful.

But the Globes loves to court outrageous behaviour and Gervais was at the helm when NBC aired Sunday night’s show.

“Nervous? Don’t be,” he grinned at the room full of glitterati at the start of his monologue.

He explained he had been warned by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association that were he to insult anyone on hand, or “offend any viewers, or cause any controversy whatsoever – they will definitely invite me back next year as well”.

Gervais went on to praise a nominated HBO series, Boardwalk Empire.

“I love that show,” he said. “It’s about a load of immigrants who came to America about a hundred years ago, and they got involved in bribery and corruption and worked their way up into high society. But enough about the Hollywood Foreign Press.”