Golden Globes conspiracy theories

Twitter was abuzz with conspiracy theories last night when Ricky Gervais disappeared from hosting the Golden Globe Awards for almost an hour.

Viewers feared that he’d got drunk, been fired for insulting Hollywood’s A-list or even been nobbled by Scientologists after he vanished from the stage.

His joke about I Love You Phillip Morris stars Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor drew a mixture of gasps and laughs when he joked: ‘Two heterosexual actors pretending to be gay, so the complete opposite of some famous Scientologists then.’

He also took potshots at Bruce Willis (‘Ashton Kutcher’s Dad’), Charlie Sheen, Robert Downey Jr and Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp’s film The Tourist saying: ‘Seems like everything was 3D this year, except for the characters in The Tourist.'

Piers Morgan was among those tweeting, commenting: ‘Gervais not seen for an hour now.’ And when Gervais returned the new CNN host posted: ‘1st question when Gervais appears on @pierstonight on Thurs - what the hell did they do to you backstage for an hour? He looks haunted.’

Other viewers suggested that Gervais seemed ‘very muted’ and ‘sheepish’ on his return, suggesting he had been reprimanded for his earlier jokes – even though the producers surely knew what to expect when they booked him.

However Daniel Fienberg of entertainment news site HitFix said it wasn’t unusual for Golden Globes hosts to take a back seat as the night went on.

‘Hosts always get trimmed in the second half of awards shows,’ he tweeted during Gervais’s absence. ‘Ricky Gervais hasn't been killed. Or has he?’

After the rumours flew, Gervais issued a statement saying: 'I did every single introduction I was meant to. There just happened to be a long gap. The atmosphere backstage and at the after show was great.'

Here is Gervais’s opening monologue:

Published: 17 Jan 2011