Howie Mandel apologizes to Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan and comedian Bill Burr for "family reunion" ambush

About two months ago, Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan appeared on Howie Mandel's podcast Howie Mandel Does Stuff. During the episode, Howie asks Corgan about his "Bill Burr story," which turned out to be quite an interesting story, to say the least.

Corgan goes on to explain that a decade ago, his stepmother would ask him if he knew who Bill Burr was. At the time, Corgan had no idea who the comedian was and then quickly researched Burr on the internet to pull up a photo; he claims Burr did indeed look very familiar to his dad.

Corgan's stepmother would go on to suggest to him that Burr could potentially be the son of his father, William Dale Corgan, whom he may have fathered during his travels across the country as a blues guitarist, making him Corgan's half brother.

Neither Corgan nor Burr have ever mentioned this publicly before now.

In late January, Burr appeared as a guest on Mandel's show to help promote his new stand-up special, Drop Dead Years, which is scheduled for release on March 14 via Hulu.

About halfway through the podcast, Corgan was brought into the studio in an ambush-style interview with Burr, who was clearly uncomfortable with the whole thing. Burr immediately called Mandel an "asshole" and then asked if the bit could be edited out before just saying, "fuck it, I'll do it," and then getting on with the interview.

Burr would also immediately all but confirm the story when asking Corgan:

"Did you ever think the fact that I never told that story that, you know, you shouldn't?"

It would seem that the interaction was set up by Mandel, telling Corgan that Burr was fine with him joining them on the set as part of some kind of "family reunion". The episode is also titled and marketed as such.

The pair had never spoken or met prior to the ambush.

Following the release of the Burr episode Mandel was met with backlash, which surprised him. He felt he was doing something good as he explained that he had experienced a 'hellish week'. The America's Got Talent judge would also share that he reached out to Burr several times with no response.

Burr later appeared on the Rich Eisen Show where Eisen would ask about the interaction, Burr goes on to say he did not appreciate what Mandel did and goes so far as to call him a "Hollywood whore".