Bill Burr admits he was pissed at Howie Mandel over Billy Corgan ambush

Bill Burr still has some anger to work through… and it’s all directed at Howie Mandel.

While appearing on a recent episode of Howie Mandel Does Stuff podcast, Burr was treated to an unwanted therapy session when the host brought out Billy Corgan, the Smashing Pumpkins guitarist who months ago revealed that the duo might be related. 

“Howie did what he did because he is a Hollywood whore and he doesn’t care what happens,” Burr told Rich Eisen on Monday, while reflecting on the ambush. “He could’ve said something and he just brings up all that weirdness.”

The origins of the incident dates back to Mandel’s November conversation with Corgan, where the musician revealed that his stepmother once said to him: “Do you know who Bill Burr is? Bill Burr might be one of the children that your father sired in his days being a traveling musician.” So when Burr visited the studio for his own episode, Mandel had the idea to call in Corgan for a surprise “family reunion.”

Asked if he was genuinely “pissed” at Mandel, Burr pointed out that he doesn’t usually talk about such personal aspects of his life.

“Billy’s fine. That’s the first time I ever met him and it was fine or whatever, but I did not appreciate what Howie did,” he continued. “Not at all.”

Despite the lasting tension, there might still be hope for Burr’s relationship with Mandel.

“He’s Howie, so he’s sorta hard to hate,” Burr admitted. “How do you hate a germaphobe? He’s like, not threatening. He just walks with his arms in so he doesn’t rub against curtains that he owns… He’s a strange man.”

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Burr extended no such grace in the moment though. During the podcast recording, he made it abundantly and immediately clear that he was not happy about being blindsided. As soon as Corgan entered the room, Burr called Mandel an “a–hole.”

“He told me you were cool with me coming,” Corgan insisted, to which Burr was unsurprised, replying, “That’s what he does.”

Before long, the duo fully turned against Mandel. Burr tore into him for setting up the encounter in the name of “ratings,” quipping, “What was supposed to happen? Are we going to go play catch? We’re both in our 50s.” 

Corgan piled on, commenting, “This is some Dr. Phil s— you got going on.”

As for the brotherly bonding, Burr told Mandel, “I think we’re kind of on the same page in thinking you’re kind of a d— right now.”

Mandel eventually admitted, “This is just uncomfortable.” He added that he was hoping for a “warm interaction.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to,” Burr said of finally meeting Corgan. “It’s just… I don’t think this was the situation. But I am happy that I’ve evolved enough as a person that I’m able to f—ing handle this.”

He continued berating Mandel, adding, “You’re not the guy to do this. This is outside your skillset. Because the first thing you needed to do was to actually give a f—, and you don’t because everything is funny to you.”

Mandel eventually left the room to give the men some privacy — with the camera still rolling, of course — and they did touch upon the subject of their “relationship with dad,” comparing the different details they knew of his life.

“At some point, it did become funny to me that he did have multiple families. There was something wild about that,” Burr noted at one point, then said, “I’m kind of forgetting that we’re on a  podcast.”

But even the heart-to-heart led the duo back to making fun of Mandel.

At least we broke the cycle,” Burr said towards the episode’s end. “At least we’re not on some awful network show judging plate spinners, or whatever the f— Howie’s career has become,” he quipped, mocking the host’s America’s Got Talent gig.

Watch Burr discuss the ambush on The Rich Eisen Show below.