Ricky Gervais has been accused of bullying by his former comedy pal and touring partner Robin Ince – who also fell out with the After Life star over anti-trans jokes.Ince, who was Gervais’ support act for stand-up gigs in 2004 and 2007 and also appeared in The Office, has gone public with criticism of his fellow comedian.The 55-year-old has told of how Gervais’s backstage jeers at him took a physical toll on his health when they toured together.He has also condemned Gervais for stand-up comedy material about transgender people which he says ended their friendship.Gervais, 63, came under fire for allegedly transphobic gags in his 2022 Netflix special for which he was reportedly paid £30million to go with 2018 show Humanity. Ricky Gervais (left) and Robin Ince (right) are fellow comedians and former touring partners – but the latter has now accused his ex-friend of bullying Ince, 55, previously criticised Gervais for his comedy material about transgender people Ricky Gervais told a series of allegedly transphobic jokes in 2022 Netflix special SuperNatureHis routines included saying: ‘You can’t predict what will be offensive in the future. You don’t know who the dominant mob will be.’Like, the worst thing you can say today, get you cancelled on Twitter, death threats, the worst thing you can say today is, “Women don’t have penises”, right?’Now, no one saw that coming. You won’t find a ten-year-old tweet of someone saying, “Women don’t have penises”. You know why? We didn’t think we f***ing had to!’He also told his audience: ‘Full disclosure – in real life of course I support trans rights. I support all human rights and trans rights are human rights.’Live your best life. Use your preferred pronouns. Be the gender that you feel that you are. But meet me halfway, ladies – lose the c**k, that’s all I’m saying.’Ince wrote a blog post on his personal website in 2022 criticising Gervais for his material about transgender people, saying: ‘It is easy to forget the collateral damage of jokes.’Anti-trans punchlines seem to have become highly ­profitable and it ignores the dehumanising effect on a swathe of already marginalised people.’I think Ricky believes it is just him being a “naughty boy”. I believe it makes him a pin-up and role model for the alt-right.’Now he has spoken of their time touring together, saying that Gervais’s backstage jeers at him took a physical toll on his health.Ince told podcast The Starting Line: ‘I look back now, and I think it is bullying, really it is. I’m very good at sometimes just acclimatising to things, in which you go, ­”Actually, this is really weird”. Ricky Gervais (left) and Robin Ince (right) toured together in 2004 and 2007 Robin Ince wrote a blog post on his personal website in 2022 criticising Gervais for his material about transgender people Ricky Gervais, seen here hosting the Golden Globes which he has done five times, was reportedly paid £30million for his Netflix specials Humanity in 2018 and SuperNature in 2022’But people who knew me did not like the way that relationship worked. I am not saying it is a traumatic experience, but after two weeks I came out in red lumps that my doctor said were a stress rash – I think my hair is coming out in clumps.’He claimed that Gervais’s ‘bullying’ became so bad his co-star in The Office Mackenzie Crook stepped in and confronted him about it, saying: ‘Rick, can you stop doing it please?’ Ince added: ‘I would go through it, but people who knew me did not like the way that relationship worked.’He says he remained friends with Gervais until he wrote the blog post criticising the jokes about transgender people. He added: ‘We were what I would call gag friends. We’d ring each other up a lot and we’d talk to each other a lot.’I found it very difficult when I saw some of his recent material, the trans jokes in particular.’He told the podcast his ‘gentle’ blog post provoked a ‘really vicious’ response from some of Gervais’s fans and the pair have not spoken since. Ince announced his retirement in 2015, saying he was ‘starting to go mad’ with self-doubt, insomnia and regret over not spending enough time with his family.Gervais responded to criticism of his 2022 SuperNature show for its trans content when he told the Spectator in an interview in May that year: ‘My target wasn’t trans folk, but trans activist ideology. I’ve always confronted dogma that oppresses people and limits freedom of expression.’It was probably the most current, most talked about, taboo subject of the last couple of years. I deal in taboo subjects and have to confront the elephant in the room.’ The collaborations between Ricky Gervais and Robin Ince include appearances by the latter on Gervais’s video podcasts and also a cameo appearance in an episode of BBC sitcom The Office Ince also co-presents BBC Radio 4 science show The Infinite Monkey Cage with Prof Brian Cox Ricky Gervais won the Best Comedy prize for his series After Life at the 2022 National Television Awards at the OVO Arena Wembley in London in October 2022MailOnline has contacted for comment representatives for Ince and for Gervais, who is currently touring the UK with a ‘Work In Progress’ show.Ince made a cameo appearance in one episode of BBC sitcom The Office, co-written by Gervais and Stephen Merchant – playing a rejected job interview candidate – while he has also appeared on Gervais’s video podcasts.His other work has included co-presenting the Sony award-winning Radio 4 science show The Infinity Monkey Cage alongside the physicist Prof Brian Cox.Gervais has featured in films such as Night At The Museum and Muppets Most Wanted, hosted the Golden Globes five times and written and starred in comedy series including After Life and Derek.