From WENN.com

Ricky Gervais' comedy partner sparked complaints with his appearance on The Graham Norton Show, where the host asked if Merchant's role in new movie I Give It A Year was written specifically with him in mind.

He replied, ""Yes, he wrote the role of a sort of socially autistic nerd who always says the wrong thing.""

Merchant came under fire for the remark, with autism-awareness campaigner Anna Kennedy telling Britain's The Sun newspaper the comment was ""disgraceful"".

The 38 year old has since issued an apology, insisting, ""I'm sorry if it caused offence.""