Ricky Gervais jokes he is pleased Golden Globes are over

Ricky Gervais has said he was thrilled by the positive response to his Golden Globes monologue, but added that he is glad it is now over.

The comedian hosted the awards ceremony in Los Angeles on Sunday.

Living up to his reputation for controversy, his opening monologue contained jokes about paedophilia, Prince Andrew and James Corden, as well as a lewd gag about Dame Judi Dench.

On Monday he posted a message on Twitter, saying: “Thanks for all your amazing comments about my Golden Globes monologue.

“Best reaction ever and that means a lot to me.

“I had a blast but thank f*** it’s over, so I can get back to my real job of editing #AfterLife2 and touring #SuperNature.”

“Make Jokes, Not War,” he added.

During his speech, Gervais said the film Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood was too long before saying its star Leonardo DiCaprio “attended the premiere and by the end, his date was too old for him”.

He added: “Even Prince Andrew is like, ‘come on Leo mate, you’re nearly 50, son’.”

Gervais then turned his fire onto the box office bomb Cats, saying: “The world got to see James Corden as a fat pussy. He was also in the movie Cats, but no one saw that.”

He also made an explicit gag at the expense of Corden’s Cats co-star Dame Judi Dench.

The ceremony saw awards handed out in several TV and film categories.

Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Olivia Colman were among the British stars honoured, alongside Sir Sam Mendes, Taron Egerton and Sir Elton John.

The Fleabag creator and star won best actress in a TV comedy prize, while her BBC show was also named best comedy TV series.

Colman was named winner of the best actress in a TV drama prize for her role as the Queen in the third series of The Crown and admitted she had got a “bit boozy” beforehand because she didn’t expect to win.

She said: “I had money on this not happening. For the last year I feel I’ve been living someone else’s life and now I feel I’ve won someone else’s award.”

She added she was “completely stumped,” but offered a shout-out to her other award-winning show, saying: “Fleabag, yay!”

Meanwhile, Waller-Bridge thanked former US president Barack Obama for naming the show on his list of best film and TV of the 2019, and made a cheeky reference to his unexpected appearance in the first series.

She said: “Personally I would like to thank Obama for putting us on his list, as some of you may know, he has always been on mine.

“And if you don’t get that, please watch season one of Fleabag really, really quickly.”

Sir Sam, who was given a knighthood in the New Year honours, was named best director for his war epic 1917 and the film was named best picture – drama.

Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood was named best picture – comedy/musical and its writer and director Quentin Tarantino won the best screenplay prize.

Egerton appeared emotional as he was named best actor in a comedy/musical for playing Sir Elton in Rocketman, saying: “This role has changed my life, it’s been the best experience of my life, it’s been such a joyous thing.”

Sir Elton took to the stage with his writing partner Bernie Taupin as they won the best original song prize for I’m Gonna Love Me Again from Rocketman.

Joaquin Phoenix won best actor in a drama for Joker, while Renee Zellweger won best actress in a drama for Judy and Awkwafina won best actress in a comedy for The Farewell.

Brad Pitt won the best supporting actor prize for Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood and Laura Dern won best supporting actress for Marriage Story.

Media satire Succession also bagged top prizes, as it was named best TV drama, and Scottish actor Brian Cox was named best actor in a TV drama, while Succession was named best limited series and Stellan Skarsgard won supporting actor.

US TV host Ellen DeGeneres was the recipient of the Carol Burnett Award in recognition of her trailblazing career, while Tom Hanks received the Cecil B DeMille award.