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.

But OP's issue isn't with something he said.

It's about him shoving food into someone's mouth when they didn't want to eat it.

That's bizarre and nasty behaviour.

Words are different to actions.

Real life behaviour that is assault and possibly could have resulted in serious injury and maybe death.

FFS

Yes, but how did it affect YOU? I'm talking physically.

Allergies aren’t all life threatening. There are mild but unpleasant allergies too. Like developing a rash or getting an upset tummy if you eat too much. The writer has done a good job showing you exactly who he is, of course it is a detail that should be included. It was bullying.

I’ve tried “non-IGE” and no one understood what I was talking about, just made the whole conversation even more convoluted.

hkw Can you possibly pick every scrap of coriander out if a salad so as to avoid an allergic reaction?

@Artycrafts

Yes, but how did it affect YOU? I'm talking physically.

To clarify, are you saying nobody can judge anyone for anything they do unless it physically affects them personally?

What a bizarre concept.

If a man did this to his wife (shoved food in her mouth against her wishes) then I would think he's an absolute cunt.

Is that opinion not allowed in your world, because it doesn't affect me personally?

Trying to understand what your threshold is for people being allowed to be bothered by something. It seems bizarre.

He's admitted what he did and how 'evil' it was. Many of us have done things we regret.

Seriously? lack of empathy? lack of seeing potential consequences? lack of ability to identify problematic beahviour in others unless it effects you personally?

An NHS trust's info about Oral Allergy Syndrome https://www.ouh.nhs.uk/patient-guide/leaflets/files/5537Poralallergy.pdf

What is interesting is that so many people are taking what a journalist has written as absolute fact without hearing the other side of the story. And so the subject is vilified on the word of one person. We truly are in an age of trial by social media.

It was stupid.

And the reaction of people around him who laughed - I wonder what they really thought ?

And were they worried about calling him out?

Exactly.

No @jojo1067 what we are taking is a story about something that many people don't even think of. It is a story describing assault (in it's legal definition) and also the forceful overrriding of another person's boundaries.

yes- people are reacting. A response of 'it may not have really happened' is irrelevant. This is a story of someone being violated and we are apparently meant to find it funny.

@Artycrafts

What if she doesn't have an allergy but just hates coriander? Does that mean it was acceptable for him to literally 'shove food in her mouth' against her will? Not killing or injuring someone shouldn't be the baseline benchmark of acceptable behaviour.

This is an article in a national newspaper. I would hope that this would be fact checked before it got written.

He said it was a vile thing to do, going by the headline of the article. He has acknowledged it.

You are an apologist @Artycrafts

Has he?

The headline is not about that.

Where do you think he has said it was a vile thing to do?

He says no such thing. Read it again.

So why somebody have coriander on their plate, if they hate it?

You would have to ask the chef that question. Presumably the woman was not suitably important enough to be considered when the menu was devised.

Honestly I'm at the stage where I think the likelihood of any man in a position of power and celebrity has a very high probability of being at least somewhat abusive and narcissistic. Certain personality types are attracted to those roles and then spend the rest of their lives surrounded by sycophants, with little to no safeguarding in place.

@Artycrafts

He said it was a vile thing to do, going by the headline of the article. He has acknowledged it.

Ok, so he accepts it was vile.

OP says it was vile.

So what's your issue with OP's take on this?

You think Alan Carr is wrong about his own behaviour and it isn't vile?

I can't see understand why you have a problem with OP's take on this - that it was 'inappropriate' and 'appalling'.

What it is you think is wrong with OP's take on what happened?

Well if I were allergic to something, I would be asking the content of the salad, and certainly stating my allergy before being served the dish.