Ricky Gervais: PETA's Person of the Year 2013

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has recently named Ricky Gervais "Person of the Year." Gervais speaks of being kind to animals and treating them like family. "Animals are not here for us to do as we please with. We are not their superiors, we are their equals."

He's been known to call out people in the public eye who flaunt activities like hunting. After lion hunter Melissa Bachman posted a picture of a lion she killed, he tweeted: "I'll pay for each pride of lions to have their own designated sniper on their side. Now it's a sport..." Gervais brings comedy to his controversial statements so his twitter audience hears them loud and clear. He is against bullfighting, wearing exotic furs and eating animals. His opinions often go beyond twitter to cause a larger dialogue in the media.

JustGiving spoke with Gervais this fall, dubbing him "the most influential celebrity on Twitter in terms of encouraging people to share JustGiving pages." To Gervais, he does not claim his charitable support is some difficult, heroic act. "It's easy to show support and that support can spread like wildfire," he told the blog. With over 5 million twitter followers, he does use his immense ability to get the word out about causes he cares about.

Aside from these humanitarian efforts, Gervais is best known for his long track-record creating sitcoms: The Office, Extras, and the most recent Derek on Netflix. He even has a children's book series "Flanimals" (nonsense animals).

You can follow him on twitter @RickyGervais, where he shares quite a bit of opinions and glimpses into his personal life. Gervais recently tweeted tons of pictures of his family members on Christmas Day (though he is a vocal athiest).  

Watch his "Stolen for Fashion" PETA video starring P!nk: