James Corden Praises Tonys’ Orlando Response
James Corden reflected on his debut as host of the Tony Awards upon his return to the Late Late Show. The comedian and actor had attended the ceremony in New York City on Sunday before returning to his late-show gig Monday night.
“I’m not gonna lie, I’m feelin’ a little tired,” he said. “I really am.” The host called the experience “amazing” before asking his bandleader Reggie Watts if he caught the live show, to which the bassist revealed he only viewed pictures of Corden hosting.
“Right, ’cause that’s the same,” Corden said with playful anger. “You can’t be like, ‘Oh I didn’t know it was on.’ All we did was talk about it last week!”
From there, the host took a moment to solemnly praise the American Theatre Wing’s approach to handling the news of the Orlando shooting. “To be amongst that Broadway community that have always been welcoming to the LGBT community was incredible,” he stated. He noted that about 3,000 ribbons had been produced that day for the attendees to wear to honor the victims of the Pulse tragedy.
“This is a community that’s never ever had any prejudice towards anyone,” he added before noting Lin-Manuel Miranda’s sonnet dedicated to the victims and Frank Langella’s powerful speech.
Watch James Corden and the cast of ‘Hamilton’ open the 2016 Tony Awards.