Ricky Gervais Responds To Critics After Stirring 'Mong' Controversy

Ricky Gervais has hit back at those who criticised him for his repeated use of the word "mong" on Twitter.

The creator of The Office has proven to be no stranger to controversy since joining the social network site, with the latest storm coming after he used the word - a slang term for Downs Syndrome sufferers - to try and get some laughs.

This has led to other comedians calling him out for using such language, with the comedian insisting that the meaning of the word has now changed.

He wrote: "Just to clarify for uptight people stuck in the past. The word mong means Down’s Syndrome about as much as the word gay means happy. I never use the word mong to mean anything to do with Downs Syndrome."

Gervais had earlier issued a statement saying: "The modern use of the word mong means 'dopey' or 'ignorant'. It's even in modern slang and urban dictionaries."

On Sunday, he tweeted: "Well done everyone who pointed out that Mong USED to be a derogatory term for DS [Down's Syndrome], Gay USED to mean happy. Words change. Get over it."

This didn't stop fellow comic Richard Herring taking to his personal website to slam Gervais's behaviour, writing: "Ricky Gervais is new to Twitter and seems to have spent the first couple of weeks mainly posting pictures of himself pulling the faces that school children pull to parody the disabled and calling people 'mongs'.

"I think many comics are guilty of using [the word] as convenient and humourless punchlines. I don’t think any of them would do the same with the word n****r and p**i but they’re happy to use the word 'mong' or 'retard' as a means of getting a laugh. And audiences will laugh at those words too and rarely even complain about them.

He continued: "If the words are upsetting some people and perpetrating a stereotype, isn’t it more noble and thoughtful to just admit you might have made a mistake and stop?"

Gervais, though, maintained his stance, later posting: "Dear fans. Don't give the haters any attention. Those people aren’t really offended by what I say - they are offended by my success."

Disability charity MENCAP's campaigns and policy officer Mark Gale told the BBC: "When people in the public eye use words of this type [it] can be offensive to people with a disability and their families.

"We want people to know that such language can perpetuate discriminatory attitudes towards disabled people."

Gervais has previously gotten into trouble for using the same word to desribe Susan Boyle in 2010, when he later made it clear that he wasn't referring to Down's Syndrome.