NEED TO KNOW
- GlamBOT director Cole Walliser spoke out for the first time after a woman came forward with what she described as a rude email exchange from him in 2019 regarding a potential booking
- In a new Instagram video, Walliser took accountability for the incident and explained his mindset going into the exchange
- He also addressed concerns about those on the red carpet who may have felt “mistreated” or “dismissed,” and apologized
GlamBOT director Cole Walliser is speaking out one week after a woman claimed she had a rude email exchange from him in 2019 regarding a potential booking for an event.
Walliser, 44, addressed the incident in an Instagram video shared on Tuesday, Jan. 27, in which he took accountability for his “tone” and actions and explained his mindset during the time in which the email exchange took place.
“I want to talk about some emails that I sent years ago that resurfaced recently. The tone in these emails was dismissive and curt and that is not okay,” he said.
“In 2019, I didn’t have a team around me. It was just myself,” he explained. “I edited every single video. I answered every single email and I was overwhelmed. But that is not an excuse. Everything lands on me.”
This comes after Yinka Animashaun told PEOPLE that she had an 11-email exchange with Walliser in 2019 that left her “hurt” and “angry.” She said she asked if he and the GlamBOT — a high-speed camera that captures slow-motion videos, often seen on the red carpet of award shows — were available for private events.
In the exchange, Walliser appeared to initially doubt that Animashaun could afford to book the service before he shared the fee. Animashaun said she would reach out again, to which the GlamBOT director responded, “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.”
Cole Walliser/Instagram
In his Instagram video, Walliser went on to “take responsibility” for his choice of words during the exchange and appeared to address some of the social media hate that he had been getting online.
“I think the hardest part about all of this is being labelled racist,” he said. “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 can experience being dismissed, and so I take responsibility for my words, irregardless of what my intent was,” he added.
Walliser — who set the record straight about Jennifer Lopez’s viral Glambot at the 2026 Golden Globes and whether she was rude to him earlier this month — also addressed concerns about those on the red carpet who may have felt “mistreated” or “dismissed” and apologized.
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“I also want to acknowledge people’s concerns that they were mistreated or felt dismissed or treated less than on the red carpet,” he said. “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.”
The GlamBOT director concluded his video noting his growth over the past several years and shared that he wants to continue to improve.
“I’d like to think that I have grown a lot in the past 7 years and I always want to treat everybody with [the] respect that they deserve, but clearly more could be done and I can do better,” he said. “And so that’s a thing that I want to focus on improving and just working towards being better….”
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