Late Late Show host and professional teddy bear James Corden expects to be forgiven for anything. Who wouldn’t, if their job entailed kissing Sean Spicer at an Emmys afterparty and then Sean Spicer-ing their way out of disaster in the morning?
“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,” Corden joked as he recapped the Emmys during last night’s opening monologue. “I’m kidding, of course, but Sean Spicer actually did make a cameo at last night’s ceremony. … 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?”
Cut to a photo from the night before: Corden air-kissing Spicer, who was too chuffed to open his eyes.
“Now, I know you think that’s a picture of me kissing Sean Spicer,” Corden explained. “But in the spirit of Sean Spicer—no, it isn’t!” (James Corden thinks this joke is so good that he kissed Sean Spicer for it.) “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,” Corden said. “Understandably, some people have been disappointed by this photo. In truth, I’m disappointed by it as well. I am, I’ve been reading a lot of harsh comments on Twitter today, and I hear you loud and clear, truly, I do.”
There it was: the best opportunity James Corden will ever have to apologize for kissing Sean Spicer, a headache easily avoided by not kissing Sean Spicer.
“So much so,” Corden joked, “I’m really starting to regret that ‘Carpool Karaoke’ that we’ve taped with Steve Bannon.”
