Ricky Gervais says he's not 'horrible, nasty, uncaring' person

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He's an outspoken comedian by trade but Ricky Gervais doesn't want people to think he's a jerk.

The 58-year-old comic is known for telling jokes that most would be too afraid to say aloud. Most recently, the comic bashed the rich and famous for complaining about self-isolating inside of their multi-million dollar homes amid the coronavirus pandemic.

But in a candid chat with Conan O'Brien, Gervais opened up about the public's perception of him, stressing that his jokes are often taken too seriously.

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"I think that I've got a reputation that's sort of like a shock jock or I don't care what I say, or I don't care about people's feelings, which is, that's totally untrue," Gervais said on the "Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend" podcast this week.

The five-time Golden Globes host insisted that he still has a conscience.

"I don't want people to think I'm horrible, nasty, uncaring because I'm not," Gervais said. "I feared fame because of all those reasons."

Gervais stressed that just because his standup is not done under the guise of a character doesn't mean everything he says should be taken so literally. In fact, he claimed he does still consider himself to be in character when he's telling jokes for live audiences.

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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. (NBC)

"Still, I don't want people to think that I'm a racist, misogynist, homophobe because they've got the target mixed up with the subject. People don't quite understand that with character," he explained, before referring to his character on "The Office."

"They get it when you call yourself David Brent, but when you're live, they don't get that Ricky Gervais on stage is a character as well, to a certain extent.

"I come out and do a joke and I say, 'that was irony.' That's when I say something I don't really mean," the "After Life" star added.

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Gervais also talked about the current state of fragility in comedy, noting that some comedians have lost their careers over dug-up tweets from years ago. This has shaped the way he now delivers his jokes.

"Ten years ago if I made a joke and someone said I'm offended, I'd think about it. I'd look into it," Gervais explained. "Now, it's meaningless. Now the people that are offended at anything have made that meaningless, and in a way, I've always tried to make my jokes bulletproof.

"Now you've got to try to make them bulletproof for 10 years' time, which is impossible," he said. "We all screw up. I try and turn the spotlight on me as well when i do those things. But I think people want war. They want a feud."

Ricky Gervais admits he once feared fame. (AP)

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The funnyman concluded that he knows he's not totally missed the mark.

"I go around the world saying the sayable. If I was saying the unsayable, they'd be walking out," Gervais said.