Entertainment Awards Shows and Events Golden Globes Golden Globes: Ricky Gervais 'Occasionally Went Too Far' But awards officials say that overall the show was "among the best we've ever had" By Mike Fleeman Mike Fleeman Mike Fleeman is a former West Coast editor at PEOPLE. He left PEOPLE in 2014. People Editorial Guidelines Published on January 17, 2011 06:30PM EST Photo: Paul Drinkwater/NBC/AP To the many critics of Ricky Gervais, add his own bosses at the Golden Globe Awards. “When you hire a comedian like Ricky Gervais, one expects in-your-face, sometimes outrageous material,” the Hollywood Foreign Press Association said in a statement Monday. “Certainly, in this case, he pushed the envelope and occasionally went too far. The HFPA would never condone some of his personal remarks.” Among Gervais’s targets were Angelina Jolie, Robert Downey Jr., Charlie Sheen, Bruce Willis, and even the president of the HFPA, prompting many stars and media pundits to call his jabs mean-spirited. But the HFPA said, “We loved the show. It was fun and obviously has a lot of people talking,” adding that overall “the show was among the best we’ve ever had and we were pleased.”