Office Videos Were Unwanted Leak
Turns out those “The Office” videos I blogged about last week weren’t put out by Microsoft, but rather leaked, and they aren’t too happy about it.
The story goes that three years ago, Microsoft paid Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant to do the videos for their employees, on the express condition they never be shown publicly. When the British megahit comedy ended its run, Gervais swore he would never reprise the role of David Brent, and he only agreed to do this one if it remained an internal corporate video.
A spokeswoman for Gervais explained the comedian was concerned the appearance of the videos could make fans think he had reversed his decision to retire the Brent character for good.
She said: “Microsoft is looking into how and why these videos have appeared on the internet,” adding that Gervais will not be seeking damages from the software giant: “Unfortunately these things happen but it’s Microsoft’s responsibility to let us know how it got out.”
It’s a shame Gervais doesn’t want to do the character ever again. I’m one of those people that think both the British and American versions have been real good comedies, and I wouldn’t mind it if Brent visited Scranton for some sort of cameo appearance. Oh, well.
Just to violate a copyright again, here are the videos. Blame Viacom-owned iFilm, where they showed up first.
