Gervais Joins Highest Paid Comedians List at #5

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Once again, Forbes has released its list of the highest paid comedians in the world, and the list is back to being all about that dick.  The list has historically been an all male list, that is until Amy Schumer popped on to the list in 2016 courtesy of a movie, a superbowl ad and a book deal.  She stayed on the list again in 2017 but this year, Amy’s dropped off the Forbes top ten, once again leaving only men as the top earners in the industry. Louis C.K. has also left the list, but that comes as a surprise to no one considering he lost millions in 2018 after being outted as a #metoo offender.

The big news is that Ricky Gervais has joined the list for the very first time earning his spot thanks to a major Netflix deal reportedly worth more than the rest of his earnings combined. Forbes magazine estimated that Gervais was paid $15 million for the special, and he also had a gigantic tour.  Looks like his return to stand up was lucrative.

Most of the list stayed the same or similar from the last couple years. Jerry Seinfeld is back in the top spot again, and Kevin Hart, Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle fill out the top 5 along with Jerry and Ricky.  Down in the bottom half, long time listers Terry Fator, Sebastian Maniscalco, Jim Gaffigan, and Jeff Dunham, although their slots have moved around slightly. Gabrielle Iglesias is back- he sat out 2017, but was on 2016’s top earners list.

It’s not completely clear why Ellen DeGeneres didn’t qualify for the Forbes list. The magazine estimates her 2018 earnings at around $88 million, which significantly overshadows even Seinfeld’s income this year. Presumably its because she doesn’t work full time as a touring stand up comedian, but still, its likely that her earnings from her Netflix special alone were substantial enough to put her on the list.

The final list from bottom up is Sebastian Maniscalco, Jeff Dunham, Jim Gaffigan, Terry Fator, Gabriel Iglesias, Ricky Gervais, Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle, Kevin Hart and Jerry Seinfeld.

 

Read the full Forbes article at Forbes.com.

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