Richard Gere Gerbil Rumor Debunked

Richard Gere was taken to a hospital emergency room to have a gerbil removed from his rectum. ... A 26-year-old male arrives at the ER complaining of rectal bleeding. He is too embarrassed to provide an accurate history but provides the examing ...

Both men end up in the Emergency Room, yet survive; the gerbil, however, does not. Notes: I've heard this one before a few times. There is a variant of this tale, reported to be the origin of the tale, wherein supposedly Hollywood actor Richard Gere gets a gerbil stuck in his anus.

Gerbilling, also known as gerbil ... stimulation. Gerbilling is considered an urban legend and there is no evidence that the practice has ever occurred in real life....

"Two gerbils in a pet shop are talking and one says to the other: 'If Richard Gere comes in tell him you're a hamster.'" That's a hacky old joke, but behind every joke lies a kernel of truth, right? Right? Richard Gere is many things: An actor, a Buddhist, an officer, a gentleman and drinking buddies with the Dalai Lama.

Over the subsequent years, the unknown gay man became Richard Gere, and the mouse became a gerbil.” And before that gerbil permanently attached itself to Gere, it was briefly assigned to an unnamed Cleveland Browns linebacker, as well as Philadelphia newscaster Jerry Penacoli and weatherman Rick Segal, both of whom, like most of the gerbil breeders, declined to reply to my inquiry on this subject. But why did this rumor stick so effectively to Gere? It seems there are a few reasons, one of which is the fact that homophobia is often intertwined with gerbiling accusations, as evidenced by this

An account of two gay guys ending up in hospital due to gerbiling (with variations such as rectal gases being inadvertently ignited causing gerbil to shoot across hospital room at speed of car fitted with plane engine) has been repeatedly published in the U.K. Private Eye magazine as a clipped newspaper item. Private Eye even published a "best of" which featured a cartoon of the alleged gerbilling incident on the cover. Despite the numerous times gerbilling has been referred to in Private Eye I have never seen the story linked to Richard Gere so it would seem that while the principle of gerbiling is alive in the UK as a hoary old story the link to Richard Gere is a merkin variation.

The core of the story remained the same: a salacious, shocking tale with no basis in fact. Urban legends often mutate as they spread, adapting to new audiences and cultural contexts.

... To state the obvious, this is only an urban myth; there aren’t any records of such an occurrence, and a quick check on Snopes will tell you so. However, the rumor has hung around like the smell of a dead rodent for a good portion of Gere’s ...

During that appearance, Rooney was trying to remember Gere's name, and he said, "There was talk of gerbils," sending O'Brien and sidekick Andy Richter into hysterics. Since O'Brien told that story in the spring, "There was talk of gerbils" has turned into something of a catchphrase for his podcast.