The Office producer Ash Atalla admits he 'sold a bit of himself' when he let Ricky Gervais joke about his disability

Daily Mail​

13-07-2025

Ash Atalla has admitted that he 'sold a bit of himself' when he let Ricky Gervais joke about his disability at the British Comedy Awards in 2001.
The producer, 53, who worked alongside the comedian on hit series The Office, 64, shared his regret explaining how he now questions if he was 'right to do that.'
While accepting an award for The Office on stage together at the event, Ricky joked that Ash, who uses a wheelchair, was the show's runner.
He also referred to him as 'my little wheelchair friend' and quipped that he was 'just the same as Stephen Hawking, but without all the clever stuff'.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs, Ash, recalled how he had suggested the joke but has since reconsidered the skit.
He explained: 'People in wheelchairs weren't on stages back then. That started the double act of that material on stage.'
Ash continued: 'I think when I look back on it, maybe I realise, or I feel I sold a bit of myself in that moment.
'I put the wheelchair front and centre, because I knew it was something that would set me apart, in that instance, set me apart in a good way.
'And just in recent years, as I've thought about it, it's made me consider whether I was sort of right to do that.'
Speaking on stage at the time, Ricky joked: 'That's Ash, the producer. He wanted me to tell you that so you didn't think he'd won a competition.
'Thanks very much for this to the British Comedy Awards. You've done a wonderful thing - not for me, but look at his little face.'
Ash responded with a rude gesture and Ricky added: 'He can't help that.'
Previously, Ash admitted Ricky's repeated jokes about disability made him feel 'a little bit uncomfortable'.
In a 2021 interview with The Times, Ash said that he 'wasn't bothered' by Ricky's comments at the time, but feels different many years later.
He said: 'I felt a little bit uncomfortable. There was a period of late Nineties comedy with the likes of Ricky Gervais, Jimmy Carr and Frankie Boyle where the game was – see what you could get away with and then reverse intellectualise it.
Ash added: 'Those jokes didn't bother me at the time, but they would if they happened now.
'I wouldn't allow so many jokes to be made about my wheelchair, I wouldn't want to be defined by that.'
The Office, the hit mockumentary sitcom created by comedians Ricky and Stephen Merchant, famously stars Ricky as paper company boss David Brent.
Last month, the BBC has slapped the beloved sitcom with trigger warnings as five episodes were flagged for 'discriminatory language'.
Both series of the noughties programme were already labelled with a G symbol on BBC iPlayer, which flags parental guidance for younger viewers.
But nearly half of the BBC series' 14 episodes, following life at Wernham Hogg's Slough office, now also carry the additional content notice.
In series one, which aired in 2001, the first and last episodes - Downsize and Judgement - bear the alert.
Meanwhile, a whopping half of the second series, released in 2002, has been hit with trigger warnings - episodes one, three and five, named Merger, Party and Charity.
The Office, now considered one of the best British sitcoms of all time, took home a whole host of awards when it first hit our screens
The Office, now considered one of the best British sitcoms of all time, took home a whole host of awards when it first hit our screens.
It won the Golden Globe for Best Television Series - Musical or Comedy in 2004, making it the first ever British comedy to take home a gong at the ceremony.
Ricky also received the Golden Globe for Best Actor - Television Series Musical or Comedy in the same year.
Its success lead to an American spin-off version in 2005, starring Steve Carell in the equivalent of Ricky's role.
The US programme ran to an impressive nine series and just over 200 episodes, ending in 2013.