James Corden Finally Addresses the Controversial Photo of Him Kissing Sean Spicer

He knows it wasn't his best moment.

Sean Spicer showed up at the Emmy Awards on Sunday night, and everyone's attitude appeared to be: "LOL, Sean, what a guy!" Which, understandably, drew a lot of criticism from people who haven't forgotten the horrible things he did as press secretary to Donald Trump.

And speaking of criticism, people were especially upset at Late Late Show host James Corden for this photo of him kissing Spicer on the cheek backstage:

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Now, Corden is apologizing for the kiss. Well, sort of. After joking that "these Hollywood phonies kissing up to Sean Spicer are disgusting," Corden offered a sincere mea culpa for the moment:

"I know you think that is a picture of me kissing Sean Spicer but, in the spirit of Sean Spicer, no it isn't," he joked. "To be fair, everyone was kissing ass last night at the Emmys. I just happened to kiss the biggest one there."

"Understandably, some people have been disappointed by this photo," he continued. "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. So much so I'm really starting to regret that Carpool Karaoke that we've taped with Steve Bannon. Feels like a mistake today."

You can watch the apology in full over on CBS, and we'll update this post with a video as soon as one becomes available.

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Mehera Bonner
Entertainment Editor

Mehera Bonner is a celebrity and entertainment news writer who enjoys Bravo and Antiques Roadshow with equal enthusiasm. She was previously entertainment editor at Marie Claire and has covered pop culture for over a decade.