The talk show host was heavily criticised for this.
During Sean Spicer’s tenure as Donald Trump’s Press Secretary, he incorrectly claimed that Adolf Hitler did not use chemical weapons during World War II. “You had someone as despicable as Hitler who didn’t even sink to using chemical weapons,” he said.
He was also part of the administration that supported the Muslim travel ban, the policy which enforced banning transgender people in the army, the decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement – although that’s still massively uncertain – and the decision to fire James Comey.
Given the fact that various Hollywood stars have been very vocal in their opposition of Trump’s policies, plenty of people found James Corden’s behaviour at with Emmy’s with Sean Spicer to be very odd – some argued that it was ‘normalising’ the aforementioned policies that Spicer supported in his position as Press Secretary.
During his show last night, Corden addressed these concerns in his opening monologue.
What pariah? Sean Spicer getting mobbed in #Emmys lobby. Posing for pics, drinking beer, soaking up all attention after onstage appearance pic.twitter.com/WqJpaRtAvK
— Chris Gardner (@chrissgardner) September 18, 2017
Five months ago, Sean Spicer denied that Hitler gassed people during the Holocaust. Sorry, but I'm not seeing the humor in that… https://t.co/6ChkFMjl6X
— Caroline Orr Bueno, Ph.D (@RVAwonk) September 18, 2017
This is how @JKCorden normalizes Sean Spicer. This isn't cute or having a laugh. There isn't any middle ground here. Corden chose. #Emmys https://t.co/Mcr4pyIiGP
— April (@ReignOfApril) September 18, 2017
Corden wasn’t the only high profile celebrity that was very happy to pose for a picture with Spicer.
Hey Jimmy, Stephen, James. I know it's confusing but Sean Spicer isn't a TV character. He was a government official who lied for a despot. pic.twitter.com/hhCsWKmuFm
— Nathan Human (@OctoNate) September 18, 2017
Speaking on his TV show last night, Corden addressed the issue and said that he’s ‘disappointed’ in himself for posing with Spicer while explaining his actions.
“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. I’m kidding, of course. But Sean Spicer actually did make a cameo at last night’s ceremony. 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.’
The image of Corden posing with Trump’s former Press Secretary was was then shown on screen and Corden remarked: “These Hollywood phonies kissing up to Sean Spicer are disgusting. I mean, who did this? Who are we talking about here?” Yeah. I know you think that is a picture of me kissing Sean Spicer. But in the spirit of Sean Spicer — no, it isn’t. 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 then spoke about the backlash that he has received. “Understandably, some people have been disappointed by this photo. In truth, I’m disappointed by it as well. I am, I’ve have been reading a lot of harsh comments on Twitter today, and I hear you loud and clear, truly, I do.” I can promise you this, that kiss was a one-time thing … I’m not one of these people who has a couple of drinks and goes around kissing people that I don’t know. Except for that one time with Joseph Gordon-Levitt, right?”
The League of Their Own host then showed various images of him kissing a host of celebrities that included Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Allison Janney, Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Bryan Cranston, Daniel Radcliffe and Ken Jeong.
“Basically, what I’m saying is, I need to learn how to shake hands!” Corden added.
