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Ricky Gervais sides with bulls over fatal gorings

Fiona Govan
Fiona Govan - [email protected]
Ricky Gervais sides with bulls over fatal gorings
Ricky Gervais has called for bullfighting to be banned. Photo: Justin Tallis / AFP

The British comedian has spoken out after a weekend of fatal gorings in Spain and called those involved in bullfighting "fucking morons".

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The star famous for The Office and Extras took to social media to share his comments after a weekend that saw the death of four men during various bull running fiestas, in what has become a particularly deadly fiesta season.

In a video talking about how he was branded "Sicky Gervais" for enjoying watching videos that showed people being gored by bulls he said: "The truth is I do prefer the bull to win".

"I'd rather you didn't fight a bull, but if you do - if you choose to torture an animal to death for fun - I hope it defends itself and self defence is no offence."

He continued: "who wants to torture an animal to death? And what fucking morons go and watch it?"

The Derek star said of the bull: "It's terrified already - the crowds shouting - it's disorientated, it just wants it to stop. It's done nothing wrong.

"If you choose to fight a bull for fun - fuck you."

In response to the argument that bullfighting was a tradition that should be preserved, he said:

"People who go see it say, well, it’s traditional. So was slavery, so was fucking burning witches at the stake. So was child sacrifice. We've moved on," he argued.

"If something’s terrible you don’t justify it by saying ‘I know its terrible but we’ve done it for ages’. Well it’s about fucking time you stopped then."

In all nine people have been gored to death during taurine festivals since the start of the summer in Spain, including an 89-year spectator who was gored while standing behind a barrier.

The rise in the number of deaths this summer have heightened concerns about safety standards at such events.   

Some have blamed mobile phone use for the rise in deaths as participants attempt to take photos and record video footage during the bull runs.

Earlier this week a man was fatally gored while recording a video with his mobile phone.

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