Did Host Ricky Gervais Go Too Far With Mean-Spirited Golden Globes Jokes?

Ricky Gervais didn't hold back while hosting this weekend's Golden Globes ... taking numerous jabs at several A-Listers sitting in the celebrity-filled audience. But many are now asking ... did he go too far?

Charlie Sheen was his first target. When describing the award show, Gervais commented:

"It's going to be a night of partying and heavy drinking. Or, as Charlie Sheen calls it, breakfast."

The British comedian, who has served as host for the past two years, then took a shot at The Tourist starring Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp. When commenting on the critically-panned flick, Gervais told the audience:

"I'm jumping on the bandwagon, because I haven't even seen The Tourist. Who has?"

He also said the Hollywood Foreign Press Associated nominated Jolie just so they could hob-nob with her:

"There's this ridiculous rumor going around that the only reason The Tourist was nominated was so that the Hollywood Foreign Press could hang out with Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie. That's rubbish; they also accepted bribes."

When talking about Jim Carrey's, I Love You, Phillip Morris, the Gervais made a thinly-veiled reference to Tom Cruise and John Travolta saying:

"Two heterosexual actors pretending to be gay. Sort of the complete opposite of some famous Scientologists then."

After Cher took home her award for the song You Haven't Seen The Last Of Me, he joked that the HFPA were bribed with tickets to the singer's Vegas show but then questioned why that would sway anyone's vote since no one would have wanted to go to a Cher concert since 1975.

While introducing Robert Downey Jr. to the stage, the host not only mentioned the actor's many film credits, but said:

"But many of you in this room probably know him best from such facilities as the Betty Ford Clinic and Los Angeles County Jail."

Downey later countered by calling the tone of the show "hugely mean-spirited with sarcastic undertones."

During the Globes, Gervais seemed to go missing for at least an hour, leaving many to wonder if he had been fired midway through the broadcast. Even CNN host Piers Morgan tweeted the following, "Gervais not seen for an hour now." Commenters on X17online's live-blog of the event were asking the same thing.

Despite his off-colored remarks, the actors who were present seemed to react to his jabs with a smile.