This week, and after the dramatic backlash surrounding Cole Walliser, the true creator of the iconic Glambot, Joseph Kahn, came forward on Twitter.
His name was being mentioned far and wide, and so he tweeted: “I keep hearing my name and Glambot. Yes I created it back in 2016 for E! The lighting, camera work, lens choices, and methodology are all my design. I ended up having to both operate and win a Grammy at the same time at the Grammys lol. It was too much. It’s fun but I’m busy.”
People had like a dozen questions, including whether Cole stole the concept from him. That wasn’t true; in fact, Joseph never owned the rights to the rig. It was always a project connected to NBC.
He responded to the speculation with: “Guys I swear I’m not salty. Just having fun. It’s actually very common in my career to do something and then a client takes elements, equipment, workflow, crew, methodology and replicate it without me. I know that sounds like shade, it’s not.
“That’s just the nature of executing for brands. It becomes their image. They paid for it, that’s the professional agreement, and you have to move on to the next idea. You just have to come up with new shit. There’s always new shit. That’s the game.”
Joseph Kahn’s original vision for Glambot was very different
After coming forward as the original design brain behind Glambot, Joseph Kahn shared a few of his own renditions. These were created in 2016, when Glambot was first created.
We rarely see more than one celebrity in the Glambot videos, but in this one, both Taylor Swift and Selena Gomez were in on the fun. Rather than just one pose, it was a series of them stitched together. It was giving Mean Girls energy, with Taylor and Selena serving face and looking fierce.
Big congrats to @JosephKahn, director of E! Glambot, for his #GRAMMYs Award tonight for Bad Blood! pic.twitter.com/D836C9jl2n
— E! Insider (@einsider) February 16, 2016
Joseph also loved the idea of including props in his Glambot videos, and he experimented with glitter in a clip with TV host Ryan Seacrest. It was fun, high energy, and carrying a lot of joy you don’t necessarily see in Cole’s recent work.
Despite that, Joseph admitted that celebs weren’t keen on the concept of glitter: “I threw glitter in the air on my first iteration. I don’t think a lot of the stars liked that but I think it was cool.”
i need this thing to take all my selfies #eredcarpet #glambot pic.twitter.com/qnGHbmTYKo
— Ryan Seacrest (@RyanSeacrest) January 11, 2016
As shown in the third concept Joseph referenced, which featured Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, storytelling was always super important to him. In this instance, it was seemingly the intense love and passion between the celebrity couple.
Throwing some mild shade, he said: “I never really intended it to just be a series of poses though. Even if it’s a couple seconds long, tell a story. Let’s get to know them.”
The E! Glambot was MADE for this Will Smith + Jada Pinkett Smith moment at the #GoldenGlobes. pic.twitter.com/RwCqDlOWS5
— E! Insider (@einsider) January 11, 2016
People think they prefer the original take
A lot of Joseph Kahn’s Glambots feel very different to the format we’ve come to know (and love) from Cole Walliser. Though opinions are divided, much of Twitter seems to prefer Joseph’s.
“This is actually SO MUCH better,” one person said.
Another wrote: “Your videography is basically the soundtrack of my life. I love your work so much, I’m even using this vibe for my new content.”
Someone else woke up and chose violence as they said: “And you decided to hand it to the worst candidate possible.”
Ouch.
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Featured image credit: E!/NBC and John Salangsang/Shutterstock and Michael Hurcomb/Shutterstock
