James Corden Pokes Fun at Cats When Coming Clean About Carpool Karaoke Controversy

James Corden took a swipe at Cats when coming clean about the making of popular Late Late Show segment Carpool Karaoke. Responding to a viral tweet that showed Corden's vehicle attached to a rig while filming an episode with Justin Bieber, Corden called the voyeuristic photo "fake news" on the latest episode of The Late Late Show. The video, which has been viewed nearly 14 million times after going viral on Twitter, shows a rig towing Corden's vehicle during filming on the segment where Corden and a celebrity guest — in this instance Bieber — sing along to popular songs, typically while driving.

"I know this looks bad. But I just want to say right now that I always drive the car, unless we're doing something where we think it might not be safe. Like a dance routine, or a costume change. Or if I'm drunk," Corden joked. "But in the case of Justin Bieber, it was a safety issue where we thought it was best to tow the car. Frankly, I just kept getting lost in his eyes."

Corden also reacted to the numerous headlines stirred by the viral tweet, including one calling the supposed deception the "worst lie since Santa."

"I'm just shocked I've done something that upset people more than Cats," Corden quipped of his role as Bustopher Jones. The Tom Hooper-directed musical starring Jennifer Hudson, Idris Elba, Judi Dench, and Taylor Swift bombed after failing to gross even $7 million in its opening weekend. Since its Dec. 20 opening, Cats has earned just $65 million worldwide on a reported budget of $95 million.

An executive producer for The Late Late Show clarified on Twitter Corden typically does drive a vehicle when shooting the segments, using a rig only a handful of times.

"I swear to you, 95 percent of the time I really am endangering the lives of the world's biggest pop stars," Corden said. "But this is a TV show, not everything is real ... I hate to be the bearer of even more bad news, but while we're getting things out in the open, I don't actually need them to help me get to work. Often I'm at work already."

Other practices, including the use of the carpool lane, is "for the sake of entertainment," Corden said of the TV magic that goes into producing the Carpool Karaoke segments that tend to trend on YouTube and other social media sites.

"When it comes to Carpool, with very rare exceptions for safety, I'm driving the car," Corden said. "And I want credit for it, because I was raised driving on a completely different side of the road."

Corden then displayed a complete list of artists whose segments used a tow, including Meghan Trainor, Migos, Cardi B, Chance the Rapper and Bieber. A longer lists of segments that had Corden behind the wheel and controlling the vehicle included Mariah Carey, Will Smith, Katy Perry, Ed Sheeran, Ariana Grande and Billie Eilish.

Season 3 of Carpool Karaoke: The Series is now streaming on Apple TV.