He Said He'd Tell It Like It Is (And That He Did)

It seems it also takes an atheist to speak truth to power in Hollywood:

Ricky Gervais may have scripted his own Hollywood downfall at last night's Golden Globes as the host tore into celebrity targets at the annual awards do - and divided opinion with his cringe-worthy performance.

But it seems that his trademark acerbic humour may have crossed the line, as the U.S., media rounded on The Office comic dubbing his performance 'uncomfortable', 'corrosive' and 'abusive'.

The Hollywood Reporter predicted it would 'undoubtedly be his last hosting gig for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (and, who knows, maybe any Stateside awards)'.

Invited back for a second year, the British funnyman warned he planned to ensure he would not be asked again - and it seems he may well have fulfilled his destiny as he made the A-list audience gasp at jokes about Brad and Angelina, Charlie Sheen and Robert Downey Junior.

He also left the crowd reeling as he made a thinly veiled jibe about 'famous gay Scientologist actors.'

While referring to films that had not made the cut this year, one of those was the Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor film I Love You, Phillip Morris, featuring, as he put it, 'two heterosexual actors pretending to be gay. '

Gervais then added: 'Sort of the complete opposite of some famous Scientologists then'.

'Oooooooo,' went the audience, before Gervais added: 'My lawyers helped me with the wording of that joke.'

Nobody was spared by his scatter-gun approach. He kicked proceedings in much the way he would continue, by lampooning Charlie Sheen.

The hugely paid Two And A Half Men star has had a tumultuous year, firstly splitting from Denise Richards and recently spending time holed up in Las Vegas with a porn star, Bree Olson.

'It's going to be a night of partying and heavy drinking,' Gervais began his monologue, sipping from a glass of what looked like beer.

'Or, as Charlie Sheen calls it, breakfast.'

Speaking to the Mail Online backstage, Gervais rather narrowed down the identity of his target, wisecracking: 'I hope people didn't work out who it was.'

He then made a jibe at the expense of nominated film The Tourist, starring Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp.

'I feel bad about that joke,' he said after his first dig. 'I'm jumping on the bandwagon, because I haven't even seen The Tourist. Who has?'

He was just warming up. He went on to tell the audience that The Tourist had not been nominated by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association just because its members wanted to hang out with the film's stars.

'Girls, we know how old you are. I saw one of you in an episode of Bonanza.'

'That is not the only reason,' Gervais insisted with a saucy smile. 'They also accepted bribes.'

Gervais then dug into the Hollywood Foreign Press, who were the evening's hosts, for nominating Burlesque after being bribed with tickets to a Cher concert.

He added that it wasn't a halfway decent bribe anyway because no one has wanted to go to a Cher concert since 1975.

Gervais also took a dig at the stars of Sex And The City 2 stars and said: 'I was sure the Golden Globe for special effects would go to the team that airbrushed [the Sex And The City 2] poster.

Awww, did Ricky make the millionaire stars uncomfortable? Puh-leaze. If a dig at Tom Cruise and John Travolta's "religion" (and sexuality) is all he got into with that nest of NewAge vipers - and their awful movies - they got off waaay too easy. And isn't it weird that honesty is frowned upon, when they shove such garbage at us every other day of the week? They shame America.

Let 'em squirm! Way to go, Ricky!



UPDATE: And a "Bravo!" from across the pond!