The Unkillable Rumor: What the Gerbil Legend Reveals About Hollywood and Ourselves The gerbil rumor has been a fixture of popular culture for so long that it's easy to forget how bizarre it is.
A story emerged in 1990 about Richard Gere allegedly inserting a gerbil into his rectum for sexual pleasure, then visiting an emergency room with the creature still inside.
Despite its outrageousness, the rumor has persisted, with various iterations popping up in comedy routines, online forums, and even official statements from the White House.