Overview
- Mortality premiered on December 30 after being filmed at the London Palladium and quickly rose to number one on Netflix.
- In the special, Gervais derides what he calls “virtue‑signalling” elites and declares comedians have pushed back against offence‑takers.
- Days earlier on BBC Radio 4, he argued the working class are uniquely safe targets for jokes and said he would now add trigger warnings to older work without changing it.
- Critical notices describe the set as repetitive or self‑indulgent even as fans praise it, with fresh scrutiny tied to long‑running disputes over jokes about sensitive subjects.
- Responding on X, Gervais said he has “never been cancelled,” casting his stance as a defense of free speech rather than personal grievance.