Ricky Gervais hits out at backlash over teacher showing offensive cartoon of Prophet Muhammad

Ricky Gervais has slammed the backlash over a teacher showing an offensive cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad to their class during a Religious Studies lesson.

Protesters have been gathering outside Batley Grammar School, West Yorkshire, calling for the unnamed teacher to be fired for blasphemy.

‘Blasphemy? F***king Blasphemy? It’s 2021 for f**k’s sake,’ Gervais wrote. ‘What next? People being punished for insulting unicorns?’

BBC 5 Live presenter Nicky Campbell responded, writing: ‘That’s offensive. I’m offended.’

Comedian and writer Bennett Arron added: ‘This is very insensitive. A friend of mine was killed by a unicorn.’

The teacher who reportedly showed the cartoon has been suspended, and children have been asked to stay at home amid the protests.

Headteacher Gary Kibble wrote to parents to apologise for the ‘inappropriate’ resource used in the lesson, and the school issued a public statement.

‘The school unequivocally apologises for using a totally inappropriate resource in a recent religious studies lesson,’ it read. ‘The member of staff has also given their most sincere apologies.

‘We have immediately withdrawn teaching on this part of the course and we are reviewing how we go forward with the support of all the communities represented in our school. It is important for children to learn about faith and beliefs, but this must be done in a sensitive way.

‘The member of staff has been suspended pending an independent formal investigation.

‘The school is working closely with the governing board and community leaders to help resolve the situation.’

Commenting on the situation, a woman in her 30s with a child at the school said: ‘We are continuing to wait outside the school to try and speak to the headteacher, we want to hear what he has to say.

‘He needs to come out, explain what happened, apologise for it and tell us how he will make sure nothing like this ever happens again.

‘We feel like he’s hiding away and that’s not good enough, he needs to show his face.

‘A lot of us have questions for him about how this ever happened in the first place, something clearly went very wrong.

Gervais, who previously spoke to Metro about cancel culture, is known for his ‘offensive’ comedy, but has said he’s able to justify his own jokes.

‘I think there’s a difference between not caring about offending and being willing to explain why you don’t think people should be offended,’ the 59-year-old told GQ.

‘I want to be able to justify every joke and I think it comes by making sure that the target is fair. I think most offence comes when people mistake the subject of a joke with the actual target.’

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