Since succeeding Craig Ferguson as the host of CBS’ The Late Late Show Show in 2015, James Corden has mostly been a popular staple in the realm of talk shows. However, the host has experienced his share of backlash over the past several years, with the criticism mainly aimed at the segments featured on his show. The segment that’s arguably proven to be the most controversial is “Spill Your Guts or Fill Your Guts.” The game is currently the subject of a growing petition that was created by activist Kim Saira. But apparently, Saira now seems to be receiving death threats as a result of the viral petition.
For those who might be unfamiliar with “Spill Your Guts or Fill Your Guts,” the segment is set up in a roundtable question-and-answer format. It’s during the discussion that both Corden and guests are given the option of answering embarrassing or controversial questions or eating “unusual” foods that are likely foreign to the guests and audiences. The segment originally received backlash back in 2018 after a food columnist wrote about it in the South China Morning Post.
Kim Saira was prompted to create her Change.org petition, which currently has over 40,00 signatures, after the show featured a dish she grew up eating with her family. In the petition, she asserts that “Spill Your Guts or Fill Your Guts” uses foods hailing from places like Asia as “disgusting” props. Now, in a recent interview with TMZ, Saira has opened up about the backlash she’s received:
I’m really thankful that the overwhelming response has been positive, with the 45,000+ petition signatures we’ve been having. However, I’ve definitely been getting a lot of pushback as well, specifically from non-Asian, white people on the petition. My main platform is Instagram, and I’ve been getting a lot of hate and death threats. Almost every single day I’ll wake up to one or like in my emails. So it’s been really hard for me personally because I’m not in therapy, and I’m kinda dealing with this backlash on my own. I don’t have maybe even the team that James Corden has to rectify the situation. It’s really just me in my room, dealing with a lot of hate and death threats.
Kim Saira’s petition also asked that James Corden issue a public apology. The talk show host recently responded to the situation during an interview with Howard Stern, saying that he and his team “absolutely won't involve or use any of those foods” the next time the segment is used. However, Saira was not satisfied with Corden’s response and also believes he could speak out in regard to the backlash she’s received:
He put out a non-apology, he put out a one-sentence statement on The Howard Stern Show. It really made me disappointed, I cried a lot about it, just because the pushback I’ve been getting and the fact that he put out a one-sentence statement thinking it would fix everything. It was really hurtful for me. … Him not responding isn’t really going to affect him. I’m sure he’s still going to be making enough money off of that segment and his show. But I’m going to be the one on the backend continuously getting backlash, and so what does that mean? So does he care? Because he had said on The Howard Stern Show, that they’re very much aware of this petition, so at this point, does he care to rectify this. That’s something I’m not sure about.
As of this writing, James Corden has not formally responded to Kim Saira’s recent interview. We’ll keep you posted on the situation as updates arrive.
