Ricky Gervais donates almost £2.5m from tour proceeds to animal charities

Comedian Ricky Gervais has donated almost £2.5 million to a group of animal charities from the proceeds from his Mortality stand-up tour.

The 64-year-old has given £2.43m to 22 charities, including the PDSA, International Animal Rescue, Celia Hammond Animal Trust and Animals Asia, from the extra profits made by platinum seating on the tour, which ran from 2024 to 2025.

Gervais said: “My mum always used to say ‘you can’t take it with you’, no I can’t mum. But I could’ve bought 30 speedboats and raced them round the Med with my mates, off our heads on weed and Bollinger. Anyway. Too late now.”

In a post on X, he added: “To celebrate my Mortality Tour, my Netflix Special, my Golden Globes nomination and the spirit of Christmas, I am donating £2.43 million to animals. These are the lovely charities I’ve chosen. merry Christmas critters.”

Gervais’s previous tour Armageddon, which won a Golden Globe, saw him give £1.9 million to charity, and it means the total amount of donations made across his four recent specials is more than £5 million.

Other charities receiving funds from Gervais include Libearty Sanctuary, Pangea, Wild Futures, All Dogs Matter, Dogs On The Streets, Paws2Rescue, Edinburgh Dog And Cat Home, Saving Strays, Chaldon Animal Sanctuary, Turgwe Hippo Trust, Safe Haven For Donkeys, and Catastrophes Cat Rescue.

Donations will also go to Finding Shelter Animal Rescue, Flori’s Friends Animal Rescue, NYC Second Chance Rescue, Helping Rhinos, and Retreat Animal Rescue.

Four charities will receive £150,000, 17 charities will receive £100,000, and the remaining £132,000 will be donated to Nowzad.

Gervais’s Netflix special Mortality, which was nominated for a Golden Globe for best performance in stand-up comedy on television, streams globally on the platform from Tuesday December 30.

Along with his stand-up career, Gervais is known for co-creating, co-writing and starring in BBC sitcoms The Office, Extras, and Life’s Too Short with Stephen Merchant. He also created, wrote and starred in Channel 4’s Derek and Netflix’s After Life.