Golden Globes host Ricky Gervais roasted Apple for its 'Chinese sweatshops' in front of hordes of celebrities as Tim Cook watched from the audience

Associated Press

This image released by NBC shows host Ricky Gervais speaking at the 77th Annual Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Sunday, Jan. 5, 2020. (Paul Drinkwater/NBC via AP)

• Ricky Gervais tore into Apple at the Golden Globes on Sunday night with Apple CEO Tim Cook present in the audience.
• While the British comedian praised "The Morning Show" - which is made by Apple - as "a superb drama about the importance of dignity and doing the right thing," he noted it was "made by a company that runs sweatshops in China."
• Addressing the audience at large, Gervais also quipped: "You say you're woke, but the companies you work for, unbelievable. Apple, Amazon, Disney. If ISIS started a streaming service, you'd call your agent, wouldn't you?"
• "The Morning Show" lost out to "Succession" for Best Drama Series at the awards.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Ricky Gervais took a bite out of Apple and the entertainment industry at the Golden Globes.

Hosting the annual Hollywood awards ceremony on Sunday night, Gervais touched on Apple's entry into streaming by praising "The Morning Show." But he went on to lambast the company for its Chinese labor practices.

Gervais said Apple had "rolled into the TV game with a superb drama about the importance of dignity and doing the right thing, made by a company that runs sweatshops in China."

It's a reference to Apple's partnership with Chinese manufacturing company Foxconn, which assembles the iPhone. Both Apple and Foxconn have been criticised for violating Chinese labor laws, and for using illegal student labor to build the iPhone.

Awkwardly, Apple CEO Tim Cook was sitting in the audience. The camera doesn't pan to see Cook's expression after the "sweatshops" remark, but does show him smiling directly beforehand in reaction to Gervais' praise of "The Morning Show."

NBC/YouTube

Apple CEO Tim Cook at the Golden Globes 2020.

Gervais then took aim at the actors who appear in shows streaming on services run by Apple, Amazon, and Disney, many of whom were also sitting in the audience.

"You say you're woke, but the companies you work for, unbelievable. Apple, Amazon, Disney. If ISIS started a streaming service, you'd call your agent, wouldn't you?" he continued.

"If you do win an award tonight, don't use it as a platform to make a political speech. You're not in a position to lecture the public about anything. You know nothing about the real-world.

"Most of you spent less time in school than [17-year-old climate activist] Greta Thunberg. So, if you win, come up, accept your little award, thank your agent and your god, and fu*k off."

As it happens, "The Morning Show" did not bring home any awards. Although it was nominated for Best Television Series (Drama), it lost out to HBO's "Succession," while Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon - who both starred in "The Morning Show" - lost out to "The Crown" star Olivia Colman for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series.

You can watch Gervais' potshot at Apple here:

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