James Corden appears to address backlash in tearful ‘Carpool Karaoke’ finale with Adele

During the last episode of Carpool Karaoke, James Corden appeared to address backlash he has received over the course of the series.

Taking place on Monday (April 24), the British comedian, actor and television host shared the final episode of his popular segment Carpool Karaoke, which featured Adele driving him around as they sang along to a number of her songs.

Held just days before he brought The Late Late Show to an end (April 27), the conversion took a more emotional turn than usual, and saw both Adele and Corden tearfully discuss recent hardships they have faced.

In the segment, Adele recalled what had inspired her song ‘I Drink Wine’ — stating that it was written following a vacation with Corden in January 2020, shortly after her split from husband Simon Koncheki.

“It was the first year that I felt like I had to hold myself accountable for just being an adult. When the year before that, I had left Simon and stuff like that,” she explained. “You and [your wife] Jules and the kids were so integral in looking after me… You used to do it with humour as well.”

It was at this point that Corden shared his own meaning behind what the song meant to him, and hinted towards the recent controversy regarding his behaviour.

“I remember I said to you on the way home, ‘What’s wrong? You just seem down.’ And you just let it all out to me,” Adele said, discussing the time Corden opened up to her towards the end of the trip. “We were having, what, a six-hour conversation about it? The whole way home.”

The actor chimed in, explaining that his low mood at the time was caused by “work stuff”, as well as “the internet, and all those things.”

“I felt so unsafe with you feeling unsafe,” she added. “I went to the studio a couple weeks later, and I wrote [‘I Drink Wine’], and I remember I sang it into my phone and I sent it to you. And I remember you saying: ‘That’s exactly how I was feeling.’”

The Gavin & Stacey actor confessed that the emotional track reflected “everything” he was feeling at the time, and that he considered it a “privilege” to have her convey his emotions in that way.

“I was floored by how you managed to take everything that I was feeling about myself, and life, and just put it in a verse,” he told her, getting emotional. “It’s the greatest privilege that… from a conversation between two friends, that you would create such a thing that blows my mind.”

Although the comedian didn’t explicitly mention any of the specific moments that led to this low point, it may relate to the series of controversies he has faced in recent years.

In October 2022, Corden was briefly banned from a New York restaurant due to his “abusive” behaviour towards staff. Keith McNally, the owner of Balthazar, took to Instagram to explain how Corden had berated employees on multiple occasions and was “the most abusive customer” they had in 25 years.

Additionally, the host was accused of stealing jokes from both Noel Fielding and Ricky Gervais. For the former, Corden allegedly copied a gag from one of Fielding’s 2010 stand-up shows, while in the latter, he was highlighted as having a joke nearly identical to one in Gervais’s 2018 Netflix special, Humanity.

In December, former Spice Girl Mel B also publicly named Corden as one of the “biggest dickhead celebrities” she has ever met, and referenced his alleged poor treatment of crew members on set.

Yesterday (April 27) marked the final ever episode of Corden’s chat show, The Late Late Show. Drawing to a close after eight years on air, the final guests on the series were Harry Styles and Will Ferrell.

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