James Corden’s cringe sex joke about Dame Judi Dench, 90, met with awkward silence
The cringe jibe didn't land like he hoped.
James Corden made a bizarre sexual joke about Dame Judi Dench and it appeared to completely fall flat.
The 46-year-old Gavin and Stacey star was on stage at the Breakthrough Prize in Los Angeles when he made a quip about his 90-year-old Cats co-star and former US presidential medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauchi.
‘Now look, I think it’s a fact. I’m far from the smartest person in this room, but I feel like I’ve gotta say, you guys know there are eight planets, right? There’s eight planets,’ he began.
‘This is day one stuff guys, don’t worry, Jimbo’s here.’
He continued in a video shared by the Mail: ‘Tonight is the one night that Hollywood and science come together, other than of course, that one magical evening where Dr. Fauci had a one night stand with Dame Judi Dench.’
The camera cut to Olivia Wilde raising her eyebrows, with hardly anyone appearing to laugh.
The Gavin and Stacey star’s joke didn’t land with the audience (Picture: Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images for Breakthrough Prize) Dame Judi wasn’t in attendance at the ceremony (Picture: Karwai Tang/WireImage)There was an awkward silence, with James quickly having to move on from the cringe quip.
‘That was it,’ he said, before swiftly jumping to the next part of his monologue.
Dame Judi wasn’t in attendance at the ceremony – which was held in a space aircraft hanger – over the weekend, with the audience including famous faces like Gal Gadot, Lizzo and Gwyneth Paltrow.
They were joined by leading figures in science, mathematics and fundamental physics, with the awards honouring scientific achievements in front key people in the sports, tech, entertainment and business worlds.
It’s not the first time the former Late Late Show host sparked a disgruntled reaction over an award show joke.
James Corden's past controversial jokes In 2016, he was criticised over the ‘Spill Your Guts or Fill Your Guts’ segment on The Late Late Show after being accused of ‘calling Asian food disgusting on live TV’ by TikToker Kim Saira. A year later, he came under fire for his Harvey Weinstein jokes, for which he apologised. In 2021, he backtracked after upsetting BST fans by suggesting the band’s passionate ARMY were all ’15-year-old girls’. He later told the group: ‘The prospect of doing anything that might have upset them, I didn’t enjoy that feeling and I hope they know that.’ In 2022, James admitted to ‘inadvertently’ using an old Ricky Gervais joke about Elon Musk on The Late Late Show.Back in 2017, James was hosting the annual amfAR gala in the same month disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein faced allegations of sexual assault from multiple women in Hollywood.
He quipped at the time: ‘It’s been weird this week watching Harvey Weinstein in hot water. Ask any of the women who watched him take a bath, it’s weird.’
The audience – which included the likes of Fergie, Kate Hudson and Tom Hanks – groaned at the joke.
‘I don’t know if that groan was because you liked that joke or don’t like that joke,’ he said in response. ‘If you don’t like that joke, you should probably leave now.’
It wasn’t the only mention of Weinstein, as the actor referenced the producer asking a number of ‘beautiful’ people in LA for a massage.
James has sparked controversy with a number of awkward jokes in the past (Picture: Karwai Tang/WireImage)He ended the routine by joking: ‘Harvey Weinstein wanted to come tonight, although he’ll settle for whatever potted plant is closest.’
The quips were met with fierce backlash, and James was later forced to apologise.
He wrote on X: ‘To be clear, sexual assault is no laughing matter. I was not trying to make light of Harvey’s inexcusable behavior, but to shame him, the abuser, not his victims.
‘I am truly sorry for anyone offended, that was never my intention.’
In February 2020, Weinstein, 72, was convicted of a criminal sexual act in the first degree and rape in the third degree.
More than 100 people made allegations of sexual harassment or rape against the film producer, kickstarting the Me Too movement which shone a light on sexual violence not just in the film industry, but worldwide.
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