Ahead of the U.K.’s general election, British comedian Ricky Gervais has posted a satirical video of himself in the bath, telling the public how to vote. In it, he says:

Hi guys, Ricky G here, wellness and beauty influencer. As a celebrity, I know all about stuff. Like science and politics. So trust me when I tell you who you should vote for. If you don’t vote the right way, it’s like a hate crime. It makes me sad and angry. And I’ll leave the country. And you don’t want that.

Skewering celebrity sanctimony is one of Gervais’s specialties. Remember his 2020 Golden Globes address? Back then, he said:

If you do win an award tonight, don’t use it as a political platform to make a political speech. You’re in no 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 f*** off. OK?

If only Robert De Niro had been paying attention. . . .

Gervais is a celebrity. That means that his peers and colleagues — the people most of us are concerned with not offending — are also celebrities. But comedy is based on confronting social taboos. And offending a social group to which you belong is one such.

It’s Gervais’s gutsiness that makes him such a gifted comedian.