Ricky Gervais has sparked backlash from fans after appearing to completely overlook his creative partner Stephen Merchant during celebrations marking a quarter century of The Office.
The 65-year-old comedian chose not to attend the BBC’s official anniversary event on Wednesday, opting instead to upload a YouTube video in which he watched back highlights from the groundbreaking mockumentary.
Throughout the entire 64-minute clip, titled “The 25 Greatest David Brent Moments,” Mr Gervais failed to reference Merchant even once.
The omission prompted viewers to accuse the comedian of trying to rewrite the show’s history and claim sole credit for its creation.
Ricky Gervais co-created The Office with Stephen Merchant | GETTY
Criticism flooded both YouTube and Reddit in response to the video.
“The erasure of Steve is not a good look,” one commenter wrote, whilst another urged Mr Gervais to “Give some credit to Stephen Merchant.”
One user penned: “Honestly, the arrogance to have your favourite Brent moments not favourite Office moments. Zero credit for Merchant, who, you can tell from your later work, is responsible for all the subtlety and brilliant moments.”
On the r/RickyGervais subreddit, one user described the situation as “really mental at this point,” adding it was “actually quite sad that he can’t acknowledge him at all.”
Fans criticised Ricky Gervais for not mentioning Stephen Merchant in the anniversary video
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The contrast with Mr Merchant’s own anniversary tribute proved stark.
The co-creator marked the occasion by posting the previously unseen pre-pilot presentation on social media, footage that featured both himself and Mr Gervais and ultimately secured the BBC commission.
Fans were quick to highlight this difference in approach, noting that Mr Merchant appeared entirely willing to recognise his former collaborator’s role in bringing the Slough-set sitcom to life.
One Reddit user observed that the snub had been noticed well beyond the show’s dedicated fanbase, with “a lot of non-saucer drinkers” commenting on Mr Merchant’s conspicuous absence from Mr Gervais’s video.
The Office first aired in 2001 and became one of Britain’s most influential sitcoms
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Speculation about a rift between the pair has persisted for years, with the duo having not worked together since 2013.
In 2020, Mr Merchant faced accusations of criticising After Life when he remarked that his least favourite storytelling device involved characters “watching old home movies of dead child/wife to signal an inability to move on”, a technique Mr Gervais employed repeatedly in his Netflix series.
Mr Merchant subsequently denied any attack, telling The Independent: “It was such a strange idea to me, that I’d take a swipe at Ricky by doing a tweet.”
Speaking on The Last Laugh podcast in 2022, he insisted: “I get on perfectly well with Ricky. We just sort of drifted apart creatively.”
The comedian uploaded the special to his person YouTube channel
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This isn’t the first time Mr Gervais and Mr Merchant’s creative partnership has come under scrutiny.
The comments come after Martin Freeman recently revealed he felt frustrated by repeated claims that The Office contained no improvisation.
The actor said Mr Gervais and Mr Merchant had wrongly insisted nothing was ad-libbed during filming.
Fans reignited speculation about the pair’s creative partnership following the anniversary celebrations
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Mr Freeman argued some memorable moments came from the cast while scenes were being shot.
He also claimed that published script books failed to acknowledge those spontaneous contributions.
Despite his criticism, Mr Freeman praised Mr Gervais and Mr Merchant’s writing as “brilliant”.
The actor said he understood why the pair were reluctant to admit there had been any improvisation.