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.

I’m guessing Walliams is the comedian Carr went off-record to discuss, as well. Both vile.

It’s not about the coriander. It’s about an employer treating his employee very badly, because he can.

Add in the fact this is a rich, powerful man stuffing food into the mouth of a relatively powerless woman who depends on him for a living, and it paints a foul picture.

The rest of the interview is made unintentionally ironic by the reported behaviour at the beginning.

Actions speak louder than words.

He may well speak of his recently acquired awareness but his actions betray him hence the interviewer mentioning both. Disgusting behaviour by Carr, whose lack of self-awareness is boggling. It's not about the bloody coriander. It's not about allergies. It's about him telling his interviewer he is one thing then clearly displaying the opposite. He is a bully and mistreats staff believing there will be no consequences for him.

Bollocks.
You know nothing about how Alan and his team interact. But I do.

Same person interjects later on to say she'd look after him if he needed a hip replacement.
He says no it would be like Misery. (Which is a good gag)
The coriander stuffed victim has the agency to leave his employ at any point - she hasn't been trafficked fgs. They were all just pissing about and they get on like a house on fire.

Is Alan Carr the new (gay male) target for MN now the Schofield thing has died down?

He is a bully and mistreats staff believing there will be no consequences for him.

No. He's not.

You people are insane.

Another attention seeking unfunny twat

Absolutely disgusting.

I have no idea I’d someone can be allergic to coriander or not. The fact is she didn’t want it and he shoved it in her mouth. How aggressive and humiliating. Vile.

Im not a fan of his style anyway, and after reading this drivel I certainly am not convinced to try watching him.

Just shows how much people in a position of power can get away with.

I resent your not very veiled accusation of homophobia but I doubt you care.

As I said, I’m an Alan Carr fan. I’m reading his book and watching his sitcom at the moment, and I listen to his podcast every week.

I can only comment on the interaction as it was presented in the interview. I wasn’t there. I can only apologise for not being part of Alan’s coterie, as I suspect you are.

The way his behaviour was presented in the interview was very unpleasant, and I hope it was an unfair depiction, because I liked him up until now.

He's always been an arsehole so this isn't out of character.

Hahaha. That's right. Man in power has every right to force one of his employees to eat something she doesn't want to. Nothing to see here!

I was disappointed (as I liked Alan Carr) that he seemed to say the abuse victim of Justin Lee Collins' horrific abuse was also to blame for that abuse.

"He was obviously in a toxic relationship and he’s now sorted himself out. I didn’t want to throw him under the bus because he’s a good friend and he’s sorted himself out."

Framing a man doing the stuff Justin Lee Collins did to her as 'a toxic relationship' was hugely minimising and victim blaming IMO... awful.

--

Collins compelled her to write down in a notebook all her previous sexual encounters in graphic detail. She said he forced her to quit social networking websites, always sleep facing him and throw away DVDs because they featured actors she found attractive.

She claimed Collins attacked her while on trips to Miami and New York and said she had not shown anyone her bruises because she did not want to get "the love of my life" into trouble.

The court was played a secret recording Larke made during a row shortly before the couple split in July last year. Collins told Larke: "You bring the fucking demon out in me" and called her a "fucking slag". He also allegedly told her she had had sex with "blacks" and "ch-nks".

Exactly.

Did he though?
Did he force her to eat it?
Did he force her to open her mouth and make her chew and swallow it?
Did he hold her down to ensure she did it?
Did he threaten her with getting the sack if she didn't comply with his demands?

Or does he know he really well and do they have a long standing relationship and friendship and regularly arse about and did he just shove it towards her because she's one of those allergic to everything type people that aren't actually allergic to anything?

As a PP has already said, someone with an allergy would not simply pick the coriander out and eat the rest, it could still cause an allergic reaction because the other food could be contaminated by it. Perhaps this woman has the gene that makes coriander taste horrible. I have it, coriander tastes like disinfectant to me and I pick the bits out of my food as well.

Do you know him personally @Gtsr443?

That has made me feel physically ill.

remember the child who died at school because other kids threw cheese at him because he was allergic to dairy?

I have a child who has a peanut allergy. My aunt scoffed when she heard this and said that there were no such things as allergies in her day and she would feed him a peanut butter sandwich when I was not looking. Guess who never is permitted to go near my child?

He also has a rare allergy (cold urticaria) that means he is literally allergic to the cold. Rainwater on the skin? Hives. Went swimming in the sea? Ebded upo in A&E (which is how we found out about it) he cannot drink cold drinks or eat ice cream because his throat might swell and he needs his epipens. Try explianing this one to people who think it is a load of arse.

Alan Carr committed assault. No dressing it up. Stuffing anyhting into someone's mouth is assault anyway. Add on an allergy or an intolerance and it could be deadly.

And all played for laughs.

Fucker.

I think the point of including that in the article @Gtsr443 is to show that he is not interested in other people's boundaries

did he just shove it towards her

Well no, the article is clear. If the author is telling the truth, and I don't imagine it would have been worth her lying, then he didn't 'just' do that.

"He picks up the coriander and stuffs it into the mouth of the woman who said she was allergic."

Agree.

The behaviour isn't great and it sounds like the age old powerful people using others for their jokes and lols.

However I don't believe it's written as the absolute truth because you don't pick out food you're allergic too as it leaves traces.

Also it gets in your hands which then risks you getting it on clothes and mouth etc.

It's very odd all round.

@TheDogthatDug - that's not true. I'm allergic to kiwi. I avoid it altogether usually but if I pick it out of a ready made salad and don't drink the juice, I can eat the rest of it.

Ugh I feel your pain. Also have DDs with multiple allergies and don't trust most people around them and food.

RE cold urticaria, my eldest had this from age 2 to 5 and then seemed to randomly outgrow. She's only 6 now so we'll see this autumn, but it can suddenly disappear apparently

I honestly can’t imagine a way in which someone could put something in my mouth, that I didn’t want, that was done in a friendly arsing about type of way. Simply can’t imagine it. I can imagine a cunty type person doing it and pretends it’s just a joke.

That's really interesting @YukoandHiro . We have had a few really bad winters with DS's cold urticaria. But the past one was quite reasonable and managed with piriton only so I have been cautiously optimistic!

Being gay does not let you off putting something into someone's mouth if they say they are allergic to it.

If this was an article about any celebrity doing this, then there would and should be concerns.

Do you think it's appropriate to do something like this?

I totally get where you're coming from but the problem is that when people use "allergy" when they mean "intolerance", some people think my epi pen carrying children will only feel a bit queasy or get the runs if they come across their allergen so it's not that big a deal and/or I'm a mad helicopter parent.

I think everyone ought to be clear about the language used.

Clinicians now talk about "immediate allergy" and "delayed allergy" or IGE and non-IGE which might be better to use than intolerance