Apple 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. So, 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?
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 Greta Thunberg. So, if you win, come up, accept your little award, thank your agent and your god, and fuck off, okay? — Ricky Gervais
Gervais comments’ about Apple start at the 6:30 mark:
MacDailyNews Take: Strong point about drama school-“educated” (or less) actors/actresses espousing their learned views on world affairs, but, once again, those aren’t Apple’s factories in China and Apple has actually done more than any other country on earth to markedly improve suppliers’ factory conditions in China by a significant margin. Read Apple’s Supplier Responsibility report here.
By the way, Gervais was able craft that statement in the way he did because of the license granted to him by Tim Cook’s outspokenness on certain issues that, frankly, invite accusations of hypocrisy at times. For example, you cannot lecture on human rights and then pull the Hong Kong police activity tracking app at the first hint of a threat from China. Well, you can, and Cook did, but it smacks of hypocrisy and it results in commentary like this:
“When China declares an app illegal in mainland China, Apple has no choice but to comply. The HKMaps decision was different — it was a political decision, not a legal one — and that difference is worth emphasizing. Apple could have chosen to fight for the HKMaps app.” – John Gruber, October 22, 2019
Basically, Cook invited Gervais to use Apple Inc. as his lead-in to his admonition regarding actors/actresses refraining from spouting personal political views. It’s why Apple’s previous CEO smartly said this:
I’m going to just stay away from all that political stuff. — Steve Jobs, August 25, 2004
Note: Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon were nominated for “Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series — Drama” for The Morning Show while the series was nominated for “Best Television Series — Drama.” Apple did not win any Golden Globe awards. (In our opinion, Aniston should have won, or at least shared the win, as she’s done revelatory work for The Morning Show. Olivia Colman won instead for The Crown.)
Congratulations to all of tonight’s @GoldenGlobes winners and nominees. It’s an honor to be in the company of so many amazing storytellers. Our thanks go out to everyone who brings these remarkable stories to life.
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) January 6, 2020