GlamBOT director Cole Walliser has apologised after being caught up in a resurfaced e-mail scandal shortly after his eyebrow-raising encounter with Jennifer Lopez.
Walliser, 44, created and operates the GlamBOT, a high-speed slow-motion camera that is popular for awards shows and has made him a red carpet staple.
But before he soared to international fame, many people had enquired about hiring the camera system at their own private events – including one bride-to-be back in 2019.
Watch the video above.
Yinka Animashaun revealed in a Twitter thread that in seven years ago, she enquired about hiring Walliser and his GlamBOT for her Indian-Nigerian fusion wedding, only to be dismissed by him.
“Thanks for reaching out! Just so you are aware, the GlamBOT is a camera system and personnel used by a network television station for one of the year’s biggest red carpets.
“It is not cheap. If you feel like something like this might be within your budget range, then I am happy to discuss further,” Walliser wrote in his first response to her inquiry.
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When Animashaun responded that it was in her budget, Walliser replied, “I don’t see how you could be since I didn’t say how much it was and could be between $US10,000 (approx. $14,211) and $US 1,000,000 (approx. $1,421,151).”
He later revealed that the price would be $US300,000 (approx. $426,345), to which Animashaun replied with, “Thanks, I’ll reach out by Monday.”
Walliser responded with, “If you wanted to know how much it costs, you just needed to ask, you don’t need to pretend you are going to book it.”
Animashaun then said in a statement to People that Walliser’s responses were “exceptionally unprofessional and unkind”.
“That isn’t how you speak to a potential client or people in general. Hopefully my sharing this can be a learning experience for him and enable him [to] be better or at least a bit more kind.”
Another user, @eyesonroman, shared their own experience with Walliser, saying they had a similar encounter.
A screenshot, showed the client enquiring about booking the camera for a wedding in 2019, only for Walliser to respond, “Hey dude, I mean you caaaaaaan, but there’s a reason the GlamBOT is only at the Oscars, the Grammys and the Golden Globes,” with the response topped off with five moneybag emojis.
Ten days on from the emails resurfacing, Walliser decided to speak out in a video shared online.
In the clip, he said: “The tone in these emails was dismissive and curt and that is not OK.
“In 2019, I didn’t have a team around me, it was just myself. I edited every single video. I answered every single email, and I was overwhelmed.
“But that is not an excuse. Everything lands on me.”
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He also addressed allegations of racism against Animashaun.
“I think the hardest part about all of this is being labelled racist. I’m half Chinese and growing up, issues of identity, race and belonging deeply affected me and I would never intend to inflict that onto anybody else.
“But I do understand that reading these emails, people could be upset, and assume bias, especially given the frequency at which people of color experience being dismissed, and so I take responsibility for my words, irregardless of what my intent was.”
Walliser then went on to explain his perspective on red carpet events.
“I also want to acknowledge people’s concerns that they were mistreated or felt dismissed or treated less than on the red carpet,” he added.
“Live events move really fast and I would never want someone to come see me and leave feeling that way. But I do understand that it could happen and it did happen and for that I am sorry.
“I’d like to think that I have grown a lot in the past seven years and I always want to treat everybody with respect that they deserve, but clearly more could be done and I can do better.
“And so that’s a thing that I want to focus on improving and just working towards being better. These are just some thoughts that have been weighing on me that I wanted to share. Thanks for watching.”
The e-mails surfaced online shortly after Walliser shared a video of Jennifer Lopez at the Golden Globes earlier this month.
Lopez, 56, seemed curt in the video, barely addressing Walliser.
Walliser quickly posted a video in her defense, explaining that red carpets are a “crazy” environment and celebrities often “don’t know what they’re walking up to” when it comes to the camera system.
He stressed that ”these celebrities are at work” and so they may want to keep things professional.
“They’re there to promote [their projects], so some people are chatty at work and some people are not so chatty at work. It’s not really my place to say [celebs] should be a certain way,” Walliser said.
“When people are less chatty, even with J-Lo, I don’t take it personally, it doesn’t feel rude,” he shared, though he could see how the situation could be misconstrued, since the actress’s back was turned to him and she barely made eye contact.
But just as this controversy was dying down, another wave was building as screenshots of emails with a potential client from 2019 resurfaced.
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