James Corden accused of encouraging anti-Asian racism with ‘culturally offensive’ Late Late Show segment

TikTok user Kim Saira has started a petition calling for the segment to be removed

James Corden has been accused of encouraging hatred towards Asian people by “continuously mocking” the continent’s food on his talk show.

On The Late Late Show, Corden plays a recurring segment called “Spill Your Guts” in which his celebrity guests are given the option of eating “gross” foods or answering a personal question.

The game has been played with stars such as Kim Kardashian, Gordon Ramsay and Chrissy Teigen.

Earlier this week, the segment was criticised by TikTok user Kim Saira, who made a video showing Corden’s guests being presented with a 1000-year-old egg – which the presenter said he “didn’t even know was possible” – pig blood curd and balut (a duck embryo).

“Um this TV segment is racist af,” Saira wrote. “This is Asian food. Balut is a Filipino food.”

Corden’s guest Jimmy Kimmel could be heard saying that the food all looked “so terrible”, with Saira writing: “They’re calling Asian food disgusting on live TV. Huh. This is literally racist. This is so disrespectful WTF.”

After the clip was liked more than 500,000 times on TikTok, Saira launched a petition asking Corden to remove the segment from The Late Late Show. At the time of writing, it has more than 12,000 signatures.

Arguing that many of the foods shown on “Spill Your Guts” are “regularly” eaten by Asian people, the petition reads: “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.

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

Speaking to Today, Saira said that she had grown up eating a number of the food items shown on the show.

“I was just so confused and I feel like it was a moment of me just being like, ‘Oh my gosh, like, this is my culture. I don’t understand why he’s making fun of it?’”

The Independent has contacted Corden’s representatives for comment.