Gervais says NBC wants him to host Globes again

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LOS ANGELES – More than two weeks after Ricky Gervais ripped Hollywood’s high and mighty while hosting the Golden Globes, the controversy refuses to go away. The English comedian said late Tuesday that an executive at the event’s US broadcaster has approached him to consider returning for a third stint next year, clarifying an earlier comment that the request came from the event’s organizers.
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which organises the awards show, earlier in the day denied Gervais’ initial assertion in a blog that “organizers asked me to consider a third year.” “There is no truth to this rumor. We have not asked him to come back. Nice try, Ricky,” Philip Berk, the group’s president and a target of Gervais’ savage wit, said in a statement.
But Gervais subsequently told The Hollywood Reporter that he erred in writing “organisers” and should have stated that he had been asked by an executive at the NBC network. “The executive called me and said he loved the show, that it was great,” Gervais was quoted as telling the Hollywood Reporter.
“He said don’t rule out a third gig. I said I don’t think I’ll do it again. I doubt I’ll be invited back. And he said, just don’t rule it out.” Gervais told the paper that he called Berk to explain the confusion, because he was annoyed that the group’s statement implied that he was being deceitful.