Hollywood got a serious tongue lashing for its wholehearted embrace of Sean Spicer at the Emmys on Sunday night, with late-night host James Corden taking particular flak for laying a kiss on the former press secretary.
The decision to invite Spicer to the Emmys was reportedly Stephen Colbert’s, its host. The surprise appearance drew shock-laughs from the audience and a lot of coverage online, but that quickly evolved into intense criticism from those who accused the Emmys of normalizing a man who was paid to spin for President Donald Trump’s administration.
And on Monday night, Corden responded to the criticism in his opening monologue:
“The big winners last night were Donald Glover, Hulu, and former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer,” Corden started. “Spicer won Best Actor in a Comedy for his role in Donald Trump’s administration. I’m kidding of course, but Sean Spicer actually did make a cameo at last night’s ceremony, and according to some reports, at the after-party, Spicer was the most 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,” he continued. “I mean who did this? Who are we talking about here?”
And then, Corden showed the photo of him kissing Spicer, before offering a tongue-in-cheek defense:
“Now, I know you think that’s a picture of me kissing Sean Spicer, but in the spirit of Sean Spicer, no it isn’t,” he quipped.
“Anyone ever have that feeling when you get a little drunk and then wake up the next morning and think, ‘Oh God, who did I kiss last night?’ It’s a bit like that. To be fair, everyone was kissing ass last night at the Emmys. I just happened to kiss the biggest one there.”
Watch the opening monologue here, via CBS.
[image via screengrab]
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