American comedian Jim Gaffigan sucked the air out of the room when he cracked a Jeffrey Epstein joke at the recent Golden Globes event. Gaffigan was up on the stage to present the award to Ricky Gervais. In an attempt to make the atmosphere light and funny, he ended up sending a shock wave of ‘nervous laughter’ instead.
Jim Gaffigan’s Epstein joke at the Golden Globes stirs controversy
The 81st Golden Globes happened today, on January 8th. The event is memorable for multiple reasons one of which is Jim Gaffigan’s too-soonish remark on pedophiles. Gaffigan cracked a Jeffrey Epstein joke. Yes, we are now calling a pedophile joke a Jeffrey Epstein joke because of the shocking details emerging in the late pedophile’s case.
“This is so exciting for me. I can’t even believe I’m in the entertainment industry,” quipped Gaffigan. All was well until what he said next. “It’s so unlikely – I’m from a small town in Indiana, I’m not a pedophile…I don’t know if that’s a new category here, but…”
Jim Gaffigan was on the stage to present an award to Ricky Gervais. Gervais won the category Best Performance in Stand-Up Comedy on Television. No sooner did he finish with his joke than the audience reeled in with a ‘nervous laughter’.
Not long ago, Ricky Gervais’ opening monologue at the 2020 Golden Globes went viral. Gervais too cracked a Jeffrey Epstein joke, making a few in the audience squirm on their seats in the event. Now comes Gaffigan walking in his shoes, only we think he went a little too early. His lame attempt to make people laugh is more controversial than hilarious.
Gervais, on the other hand, was absent in the audience. So, Gaffigan took the award on his behalf. While not everyone was amused, some attendees like Taylor Swift were seen laughing at the final moments of his speech.
Why is Jim Gaffigan’s pedophile remark at the Golden Globes too-soonish?
Hundreds of court documents about the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s case were unsealed recently. The documents contain serious allegations concerning several A-list Hollywood stars. Elites like Cameron Diaz, Bruce Willis, Leonardo DiCaprio, Naomi Campbell, Cate Blanchett, Donald Trump, the science genius Stephan Hawking, the British royal Prince Andrew, and more are indicated to have an association with Epstein. Stars are quickly releasing statements, denying any kind of association with Epstein. Diaz and DiCaprio have released such statements very recently.
Attempting humor too frequently regarding a case such as Epstein’s is usually not well received especially when it continues to grab headlines for shocking revelations. More documents are yet to be unsealed. Nevertheless, the case has hurt sentiments worldwide. People feel unsettling emotions whenever the name Jeffrey Epstein comes up given the seriousness of the crimes Epstein committed for a long time which included sexual abuse for several young girls, as young as 12-year-olds.
While comedians are creative artists and proudly carry the right to freedom of speech, the Jim Gaffigan episode reminds us that we should be considerate towards people’s sentiments; and that we should still be mindful about what to joke and more importantly, when to joke.
