Ricky Gervais is now vegan. It’s finally been confirmed by the man himself in a comment he made during an interview with Jimmy Fallon on the Tonight Show. Fallon asked him some questions about funny controversial subjects, and when he asked ‘who would you eat if he were a cannibal’, Gervais replied: “Well, I’m vegan, so it’s even worse for me.”
The British actor, director and comedian is well-known for loving animals and for supporting several animal protection causes. He turned vegetarian a few years ago, but vegan activists were eagerly waiting for the moment he would make the final step. It’s not known when he did it, but there will no longer be speculation now he has confirmed it.
We do not know whether he defines himself as an ethical vegan or just a dietary vegan, but there would be little doubt that he is a vegan for the animals. He has supported campaigns for the end of the fur trade, against animal testing (voicing a test rabbit in the animated video “Save Ralph” produced by the Humane Society), to ban trophy hunting, to end bear bile farms, and against bullfighting. As the dog-loving character Tony Johnson in the recently released third season of After Life, which he wrote, produced and directed, Gervais even made a colourful remark describing a bullfighter. Perhaps he decided to become vegan inspired by the vegan actor Peter Egan, who plays a small role in the series. Gervais’ Twitter page has 14.5 million followers, who can often read his unambiguous comments on several animal rights issues.
Although you never know with celebrities, many vegans are now hoping that Gervais will not become one of those ex-vegans who just tried it for a while. This is unlikely as he seems to be a compassionate human being who genuinely loves animals, as well as a rational and grounded individual who has often expressed high moral values — even through his incisive comedy and unapologetic style. Many animal activists all over the world will sleep tighter now knowing that one “anomaly” of seeing a non-vegan animal rights campaigner has now been rectified. Perhaps this will inspire others to correct other similar anomalies soon — such as the still vegetarian Paul McCartney.
