Ricky Gervais donates a huge £2.5 million to animal charities
So generous from Ricky!
Last updated 11th Dec 2025
Comedian and actor Ricky Gervais has announced he's donating nearly £2.5 million to various animals charities, "to celebrate the spirit of Christmas".
Generated from the proceeds of his recent Mortality stand-up tour, which will arrive on Netflix later this month, 64-year-old Ricky has announced he's splitting the money between 22 charities.
Sharing the list of charities to Instagram, Ricky told his followers: 'To celebrate my Mortality Tour, my Netflix Special, my Golden Globes nomination & The Spirit of Christmas, I am donating £2.43 Million to Animals. These are the lovely charities I’ve chosen. Merry Xmas Critters ❤️'. (sic)
The After Life star also wrote on Facebook: 'These are the lovely charities I've chosen. Merry Xmas, critters.
'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.
'Anyway. Too late now'.
After seeing the news, a number of charities publicly thanked Ricky for his generosity.
Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home said: 'We’re blown away by your generosity; this is the best news this festive season! Thank you for this amazing donation, it means the world to our whole team. We will continue to look after the dogs, cats and the families who need us - thank you!!! 💚'.
The Retreat Animal Rescue added: 'Ricky, we are so extremely grateful to be included alongside the other incredible charities you have chosen to donate to. Your generosity will keep our hundreds of animals fed, warm and loved. We don’t have enough words to describe how thankful we are. Thank you so much, truly 💚'.
PDSA then commented: 'We can't thank you enough for such a generous donation! Your kind gesture will help us continue to treat sick and injured pets and keep people and pets together - thank you! ❤️🐾'.
Earlier this year, Ricky paid tribute to Anti the German Shepherd, who played Brandy in hit Netflix show After Life.
Following the dog's sad passing at the age of 13, Ricky wrote: 'This is such sad news. Anti was a beautiful soul. We hit it off straight away and she helped make After Life my favourite filming experience of all time.
'I'm so glad that I told her a hundred times a day that she was a very good girl.'
This isn't the first time Ricky has been generous with his money. The comedian donated a huge £1.9 million to charity with the profits from his Armageddon tour in 2023.
Ricky Gervais: Mortality will be available to stream on Netflix from Tuesday 30th December 2025.
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