After enjoying a few cocktails from the Emmy’s after party, Late Late Show host James Corden was snapped planting a smooch on Sean Spicer, a move he now says “disappointed” him. It’s not just a case of beer goggles though or the sheepish feeling known to many who have over-imbibed — it’s that Corden’s peck brought on plenty of backlash as Trump opponents debated whether this kiss was a sign of tacit approval of Spicer’s controversial run as White House Press Secretary. But Corden owned the backlash during a Monday episode of his show. He summed up what happened:
“The big winners last night were Donald Glover, Hulu and former White House press secretary Sean Spicer. Spicer won best actor in a comedy for his role in Donald Trump’s administration. According to some reports at the after party, Spicer was the post popular guy in the room. And I just want to say, I think people are forgetting that this man lied to the American people, and should not be embraced. These Hollywood phonies kissing up to Sean Spicer are disgusting. I mean, who did this? Who are we talking about here?”
That’s when Corden aired the photo of him kissing Spicer’s cheek and quipped, “I know you think that is a picture of me kissing Sean Spicer. But in the spirit of Sean Spicer — no, it isn’t!”
Corden also reminded viewers that his Spicey smooch isn’t exactly unheard of — Corden has kissed plenty of celebrities. “I can promise you this, that kiss was a one-time thing,” he riffed. “I’m not one of these people who has a couple of drinks and goes around kissing people that I don’t know.” That’s when he followed up the Spicer picture with a series of shots in which Corden has shown similar affection to the likes of Daniel Radcliffe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bryan Cranston, Harry Styles, Allison Janney, and Ken Jeong.
Jokes aside, though, Cohen leveled with his audience. “Understandably, some people have been disappointed by this photo,” he explained. “In truth, I’m disappointed by it as well. I’ve been reading a lot of harsh comments on Twitter today, and I hear you loud and clear. Truly I do.”
(Via CBS & Hollywood Reporter)