01 December 2023 , 18:22
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Former Ex on the Beach star Ashley Cain has slammed Ricky Gervais for mocking terminally ill children in his new comedy show.
The 33-year-old footballer was left devastated in April 2021 when his daughter, Azaylia, died aged just eight months old after bravely battling against leukaemia. Ashley and his partner Safiyya Vorajee have since been raising funds to help other children battle cancer through a charity they established in tiny Azaylia’s name.
In a new Netflix stand up special, 62-year-old Ricky takes aim at children who are battling terminal illness in his show titled Armageddon. In scenes from the show, Ricky jokes that he refers to children battling serious illness in hospital as “baldies” and also asked those who ask to see him via the Make-A-Wish Foundation “Why don’t you wish to get better?”.
Bereaved father Ashley Cain has taken aim at Ricky Gervais (Ashley Cain/Instagram)
The reality star is appalled that Ricky has been making jokes about terminally ill children (Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)While the jokes may have been intended to take aim at harsh topics, the slights have angered Ashley who has slammed Ricky and warned: “Some things are just not funny.” Taking to social media, the footballer made his feelings about Ricky very clear. He wrote via Instagram Stories: “I was actually a fan of Ricky Gervais but I had to turn off his stand-up the other day as I was watching it with family and there were multiple jokes about terminally ill children and especially kids with cancer.”
Ashley continued: “Some things are just not funny. Especially to those parents who are left behind. You can get cancelled for so many things these days but it’s ok to make a mockery of dying children. I’m actually so mad about this.”
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Ashley went on to hint he was struggling to remain composed while writing about his thoughts and feelings. The former reality star warned he was “trying to remain as professional” as possible, adding: “I know Ricky makes jokes about having so much money that he doesn’t care about what us people think.”
Ashley and his partner Safiyya Vorajee's daughter Azaylia died aged eight months after battling illness (@miss_safiyya_/Instagram)He continued: “But someday he will learn and he best hope it’s not me that has to teach him that lesson. Because I don’t play when it comes to certain things. And that is definitely one of those things.”
Ashley went on to share the news that he had been spending time with other bereaved fathers that same day. He wrote: “The maddest thing is, it was only today that I played in a charity match for Good Morning Britain alongside a group of great gentlemen that are part of a charity for bereaved fathers.
“Each man I stood next to shared each other’s excruciating pain from the loss of a child. Brilliant men, with beautiful children who were taken from this earth too soon. Left with a hole in their lives that is truly impossible to fill.”
Ricky frequently stokes controversy with his comedy content. He has taken aim at the transgender community with his jokes, and those that he considers to be “woke”. He has defended his style of comedy in the past, telling GQ: “I want to be able to justify every joke and I think it comes by making sure that the target is fair. I think most offence comes when people mistake the subject of a joke with the actual target.”