James Corden to change 'Spill Your Guts' segment after being called out for racism

Upset viewers say the English TV host of 'The Late Late Show with James Corden' is perpetuating anti-Asian sentiment

TV host and actor James Corden has been blasted for anti-Asian rhetoric on his show's 'Spill Your Guts' segment. Getty Images

Balut, century-old eggs and chicken feet are a few of the dishes British television host James Corden has referred to as "gross" or "horrific" on the Spill Your Guts segment on The Late Late Show with James Corden.

This month, a TikTok video by user Kim Saira, that has amassed almost three million views, highlighted clips from the game, where Corden asks celebrities to reveal secrets or eat "disgusting" foods, many of which are Asian delicacies.

"I noticed that one of the foods that he presented to someone was balut (a fertilised duck egg that is boiled and eaten from the shell), and balut is, like, very specific to Filipino culture," Saira later told Today, referring to a 2016 segment that starred Jimmy Kimmel.

“It’s a food that I have been eating whenever I go to the Philippines with my grandma and my cousins, so it’s a very sentimental food to me, and I noticed that he was presenting it to a guest and calling it gross.”

Saira called Corden out for showing insensitivity toward Asian cultures and started a Change.org petition calling for the segment to be taken off air, for a formal apology from the host and for the show to donate money to Asian American organisations that are working to help Asian-owned restaurants and small businesses.

The online petition now has more than 45,000 signatures.

"In the wake of the constant Asian hate crimes that have continuously been occurring, not only is this segment incredibly culturally offensive and insensitive, but it also encourages anti-Asian racism," reads the petition's description.

"So many Asian Americans are consistently bullied and mocked for their native foods, and this segment amplifies and encourages it."

It seems Corden, who recently hosted Friends: The Reunion, has listened, as the Gavin & Stacey star went on The Howard Stern Show and said he will change the format of Spill Your Guts following the criticism.

"We heard that story, and the next time we do that bit we absolutely won’t involve or use any of those foods,” Corden said. “As you said at the start, our show is a show about joy and light and love. We don’t want to make a show to upset anybody.”

He didn't explicitly detail how it might change, but referred to a 2017 episode as a potential solution. “In the same way that when we played it with Anna Wintour, we gave her a pizza covered in cheeseburgers. Do you know what I mean?”