Bill Barr’s latest podcast appearance turned into an (allegedly) unexpected family reunion.
When the comedian, 56, appeared as a guest on Tuesday’s episode of the Howie Mandel Does Stuff podcast, he had a surprise special guest. That person is Smashing Pumpkins guitarist Billy Corgan (57). He previously theorized that he and Barr were half-brothers.
Corgan said on his show “Howie Mandel Does Stuff” in November that his stepmother told him about 10 years ago that she believed Barr “might be one of the children your father had when he was a traveling musician.” revealed.
“My father once told me that he had a half-brother named Bill who was born around the same time as me,” Cogan said. At the time, he insisted he wasn’t joking, but after sitting down with him, he made it clear that he didn’t think they were related.
So during Mr. Mandel’s interview with Mr. Barr on Tuesday, the “America’s Got Talent” judge revealed that he had a surprise planned and brought up Mr. Cogan. The moment the musicians entered, Barr berated Mandel and expressed his dissatisfaction with the situation, albeit in a playful manner.
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“Did you ever think that the fact that I didn’t talk about it, maybe you shouldn’t talk about it?” Barr jokingly asked Corgan. He expressed surprise that he did not know that.
The comedian laughed while asking Corgan why he felt the “need” to bring up the idea that they might be related, before accusing him of being a Chicago Cubs fan. Barr later clarified that he was not angry at Corgan, but jokingly criticized Mandel for setting up the press conference for “ratings,” calling it “disrespectful,” and said the podcast shows the two meet. Said it’s not the right place.
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“What was supposed to happen? Are we going to go play catch?” Barr joked. “We’re both in our 50s,” he added, adding, “We’ll probably hang out together someday. We’re not thinking about it on the podcast.”
Mandel eventually left the room, allowing the two of them to speak alone while emotional piano music continued to play. After the host was gone, Barr asked Corgan about his “relationship with his father,” which Corgan described as “difficult.”
“At some point it became interesting that he had more than one family,” Barr said. “My dad told us he was a dentist,” Barr said. “I wasn’t doing all the work,” he said.
During the conversation, the two seemed to be just playing around with the idea that they were related, but by the end of the interview, Barr seemed convinced, saying, “We have the same father.” I declared it flatly.
Still, Corgan jokingly suggested, “I think the fact that he says he can’t sing disproves that we’re related.”
Burr and Keoghan aren’t the only stars who may or may not be secretly half-brothers. In 2023, Matthew McConaughey revealed on Kelly Ripa’s Let’s Talk Off Camera podcast that he and Woody Harrelson may have the same father. “His father was on furlough at the same time my mother and father were going through their second divorce,” he explained.
But McConaughey said he had some hesitation about taking a DNA test to find out.
“It’s a little easier for[Harrelson]to say, ‘Here we go!’ because it doesn’t do any good for him,” he said. “It’s a little difficult for me, because he said to me, ‘Wait a minute, after 53 years of believing, are you telling me that my father might not be my father?’ Because I’m asking you to grab it.”
Barr’s latest comedy special, “Drop Dead Years,” will be available on Hulu on March 14th. Barr is teaming up with comedian Shane Gillis to perform in Los Angeles on Monday for “A Night of Comedy to Help Those Affected by the LA Fires,” with proceeds going to the Wildfire Relief Fund. .
Contributor: Charles Trepany