COMIC Sean Lock has blasted Ricky Gervais for using the word “mong” — calling
it “lazy comedy”.
Sean, who stars in Channel 4’s 8 Out Of 10 Cats, said there was no reason for
Ricky to use the term.
The word is an offensive and dated reference to people with Down’s Syndrome.
Sean, 48, claimed the only reason Ricky finds “mong” funny is because it
remains taboo.
He told TV Biz: “The term ‘mong’ is associated with some of the weakest and
most innocent members of society and the mark of a society is how they look
after those people. It’s easy, lazy comedy.
“The word is only funny because you’re not supposed to say it. There is no
good reason to say it, it’s not intrinsically funny.
“To say that it’s a word you have just chosen to mean something else is a bit
ingenuous. The only reason the word is titillating is because of its
association.”
The Sun told on Wednesday how Ricky, 50, angered disability groups by using
the word in online messages. The Office star has claimed he only ever uses
it to mean “a div”.
But Sean insists that’s not acceptable and even likened the use of the word to
a white person using the N-word.
He said: “It’s so easy to say, ‘Well it’s just a word…’ But there are
certain words… for example certain racist terms. Black people can use
them, but white people can’t.”
Sean is about to take over from John Sergeant as host of Dave’s comedy
debating show Argumental.
And he admits he never imagined his career path would cross with political
journalist John. He said: “I didn’t ever imagine I’d be filling his shoes.”
– THE new series of Argumental starts on November 3 at 10pm on
Dave.
