[Want to hear more from Ricky Gervais? You can catch him on "Piers Morgan Tonight" on Thursday, January 20 at 9 p.m. ET.]
Though there was a lot of nervous laughter in the room at the January 16 Golden Globes ceremony, host Ricky Gervais swears his scathing humor didn't offend anybody.
"Everyone took it well and the atmosphere backstage and at the after show was great," Gervais said in a statement to the Hollywood Reporter.
The funnyman also cleared up rumors that he had been scolded or fired during a long pause in the show in which he mysteriously went missing.
"I did every single introduction I was meant to. There just happened to be a long gap. This is because I was allowed to choose who I would introduce in advance," explained Gervais. "I obviously chose presenters who I had the best jokes for. (And who I knew had a good sense of humor.)"
Hollywood Foreign Press Association president Philip Berk—of whom Gervais said, "I just had to help him off the toilet and pop his teeth in"—admits that the comic "crossed the line" and that some of his jokes were unacceptable, but says, "That's Ricky."
Berk adds that he had no idea what Gervais was going to say during the show and was as surprised as the audience by his remarks. But, he acknowledges, "When you hire Ricky Gervais, you expect the unexpected."
While Berk is staying mum as to whether Gervais will be invited back to host the Globes - and if you'll recall, Gervais has said he's not interested in doing it again anyway - the Hollywood Foreign Press Association issued its own statement about Sunday's ceremony to CNN Monday:
"We loved the show. It was a lot of fun and obviously has a lot of people talking. When you hire a comedian like Ricky Gervais, one expects in your face, sometimes outrageous material. Certainly, in this case, he pushed the envelope and occasionally went too far. The HFPA would never condone some of his personal remarks. Overall, however, the show was among the best we've ever had and we were pleased."