Alan Carr - stuffs herb into mouth of team member who says she is allergic to it

[cakeorwine]

‘I used to say awful things’: Alan Carr on divorce, dating and the skit that haunts him | Alan Carr | The Guardian

Idiot. There is so much to say about this - power, control and a total lack of understanding of allergies.

"We’re in a big echoing loft with wood floors and he’s talking to his team as if they are all on stage and I – sitting in the corner – am the audience. He wants to know why one of them is picking bits out of her salad. He doesn’t accept that she’s allergic to coriander. Whoever heard of being allergic to coriander?"

There are six of us in this photo studio, including Carr’s manager, makeup, wardrobe and a publicist from ITV. He picks up the coriander and stuffs it into the mouth of the woman who said she was allergic. “See!” he declares, triumphant. “You’re not really allergic. If you were, you’d be dead by now.” He cackles. Everyone else cackles. It’s like the canned laughter of witches"

I just don't know what to say about this. Some allergies are less well known but still cause allergic reactions. And should be taken seriously.

It seems highly improbable that one person could forcibly stuff something into another person's mouth without using a degree of force that would overpower someone. In the normal run of things, if someone tried to put something in your mouth, you'd either move your head away, or bat their hand away.

Improbable it happened the way it was described

It didn't happen but even if it did it wasn't that serious.

So you don't believe the article and if it did happen, it's ok for someone to do that?

I think that says something about you.

Agree with others that it’s rather odd that someone with an allergy would “pick out” that food from a salad. The person cannot have been allergic to it as it would have touched other things they were about to eat!

I like AC and think the writing in that piece is dreadful.

Interesting article on coriander allergy

Coriander allergy - watch out for 'spices' labels | What Allergy Blog

I will add that I have two nieces with allergies and there isn’t a chance in hell they’d be “picking out” the food they’re allergic too. They wouldn’t even touch it.

It's not the point though, is it?

You don't go round stuffing food into the mouth of people who say they are allergic.

Unless you are a celebrity with power and control over someone who you guess is unlikely to complain.

And he did that in front of a journalist.

I'm allergic to coriander, among other things, and I would pick the leaves out where possible. Obviously if it's chopped into small pieces and mixed in it isn't possible, but I'm allergic to basil also and I just take the leaves off pizza or whatever.

My allergy is serious. Often it means intense itching, lips swelling, and a hoarse voice and wheezy breathing as my throat swells. If someone put something I was allergic to in my mouth it would also cause me panic, fear and distress.

I'm finding it upsetting reading comments here suggesting an allergy can't be serious if we can take the items we're allergic out and avoid eating them. My experience of allergies is that people often try to dismiss, deny and undermine my needs and it can be frightening because although some people will stop at rudely questioning me, others will not bother to avoid putting ingredients I'm allergic to in the food or might go as far as Carr is alleged to have done.
(I have known people do similar, such as putting an allergen in someone's drink as a 'joke'.)

So please stop denying our medical conditions!

Another celebrity who thinks he is so popular he can get away with abusive behaviour and we will all laugh. No we won't.

Nobody takes allergies seriously, and if you have one that's not top 14 you're stuffed

My youngest daughter carries epi pens for peanut and it's so bloody easy to manage her needs because people take it seriously. The rest of the family? Not so much. Even though WAY more children die from milk allergy than nut allergies every year.

It's fucked up.

He's an idiot. I hope he faces a huge penalty for this but obviously he won't. Allergies are so "hilarious"

I agree but it really isn't the point - because clearly he didn't actually say that (which would have been a valid objection)

There are different types of allergy - of course if you have the anaphylactic type then just picking out the ingredient won't be enough.

As the article linked by a PP points out, coriander is usually the oral allergy syndrome type - not deadly, and for most people the odd contact trace left after picking out the leaves wouldn't be a problem. But having several leaves stuffed directly into your mouth could still be extremely unpleasant.

There are different severities of allergies. If I accidentally buy a salad with my allergen in it (because it's been added to everything lately and previously 'safe' salads aren't any longer) I can pick the leaves out that I'm allergic to.
I would not be happy if someone tried to stuff it in my mouth.

You don't go round stuffing food into the mouth of people full stop.

It's called assault.

Not odd in the slightest. I’m allergic to strawberries. If I am served something with strawberries I just remove them from my plate.

My allergy only flares up if I eat a strawberry. I can eat everything else on the plate once the strawberries have been removed.

Forgot to add Alan Carr is woeful. How anyone finds him entertaining is beyond me.

am also surprised by how dismissive people are about how another person navigates their allergies simply because thats now how they or their loved ones would do it. Not even considering that allergies vary in hoe they present themselves m And regardless, it's horrible behaviour to force food in someone's mouth. And the oh they could have moved their head or batted it away. Well may be it was a junior and AC has form for this so they have learnt to bear it or laugh even though they hate it. May be the person froze. It doesn't matter. It shouldn't have happened

Surely it is assault to force someone with a known allergy that you have been told about into contact with the thing they are allergic to?

How do you stuff something into someone's mouth? Wouldn't they just move their head to one side? Did he get them into a headlock and prise open their jaw or something? With everyone watching. You'd think that the reporter would have mentioned that. Sounds a bit bizarre to me.

It's easy if you catch someone by suprise perhaps talking to someone else distracted maybe

That's not what the writer implies, though.

He wants to know why one of them is picking bits out of her salad. He doesn’t accept that she’s allergic to coriander. Whoever heard of being allergic to coriander? (...) He picks up the coriander and stuffs it into the mouth of the woman who said she was allergic.

Talking or not, surely you'd see a hand shooting towards you and ward it off. And stuffing in the bits off her plate? It sticks to your fingers. I know because I pick it out of my salad too. It takes ages but I hate the taste.
I suppose it could happen, it just sounds strange to me.

How do you stuff something into someone's mouth?

It's easy if you catch someone by suprise

Especially if you have power over them by dint of being their boss, or being the only bankable star in the room.

This is a show of male dominance similar in mechanism to oral rape, existing on the same spectrum of male violence towards women as rape and choking.

Watching his "comedy", my spidey senses told me for a long time that this is not a man I should ever be alone with. He has now demonstrated that I should trust my gut.

To the people including Carr saying that she can't have been allergic or she wouldn't have been picking the food out: some allergies aren't that serious, not all food allergies cause anaphylaxis.

Google says that allergy to coriander tends to manifest as hives or swelling. She wasn't risking her life. I'm allergic to lanolin but if I'm exposed to a very small amount of it I probably wouldn't even notice the allergy symptoms.

And it's assault anyway, even if she wasn't allergic. What a nauseating dick Carr is.

She does not know how she can stop him, so she freezes. He is the bankable star in the room.

Surely you all remember Jeremy Clarkson punching a member of Top Gear staff who had to get checked for concussion at hospital and the staff member worried that he'd be fired for being punched? Now add being female to that power dynamic. Of course she didn't fight back.

Especially if you have power over them by dint of being their boss, or being the only bankable star in the room.

There are six of us in this photo studio, including Carr’s manager, makeup, wardrobe and a publicist from ITV.

It's not going to be the manager so a woman employed by itv. Itv aren't going to sack them for refusing to be forced to eat something they're allergic to.

Like I say, it just sounds odd to me.