The Bear‘s Ayo Edebiri kept it professional when she was asked — repeatedly — about costar Jeremy Allen White‘s steamy Calvin Klein campaign.
Edebiri, 28, was pressed about her reaction to the ads while attending the 2024 Golden Globe Awards on Sunday, January 7, initially playing along when the topic came up on the red carpet.
“I’m bulking up,” she told Entertainment Tonight, teasing that she was inspired to hit the gym after seeing White’s photo shoot. “So I’m eating, I’m on the protein, I’m on the creatine.”
Edebiri joked that she’d be focusing on her abs specifically during the “second quarter” of the year. “Quads [are] Q3. And then, back up to the arms, actually,” she said. “We’re leaving the rest of the leg, we’re leaving it alone.”
The questions didn’t slow down as the night went on. She joined Abbott Elementary‘s Quinta Brunson for a red carpet interview with Access Hollywood and had to look away when shown a more NSFW pic of White, 32.
“Jeremy, put that away,” Brunson, 34, quipped in a video shared via TikTok.
Edebiri insisted she was “happy” for her costar. “That’s my boy, you know what I mean?” she said. “I do feel like I want people to understand he’s my coworker.”
The Bear won big at the Golden Globes, with both Edebiri and White taking home individual trophies for their performances. The Hulu hit also earned the Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy award. When gathered backstage after their win, the cast was once again asked about White’s campaign.
“I have a really serious question to ask you all,” an Extra reporter began.
Edebiri could be heard saying, “I feel like I know what it is,” under her breath as the interviewer turned to pick up an enlarged photo from the Calvin Klein shoot. She stepped forward to take the prop away as White laughed awkwardly.
“I’m putting it away for my boy! That’s my boy,” she teased, emphasizing, “This is a work function!”
Abby Elliott and more of the cast joined in to defend their “family,” with Ebon Moss-Bachrach joking, “We’re not at [the] underwear awards, you know what I mean? We’re here to talk about our show.”
White admitted that he was a little uncomfortable with all the attention that the campaign, which debuted earlier this month, has received. “I feel very far away from it,” he told Extra, noting that it was “really nice” to see a billboard of himself in New York City.
Speaking in the press room after his win, White said, “It’s been a weird couple of days. It is bizarre doing a Calvin Klein ad, and now it is even more bizarre having it come out. But everything feels OK for now, thank you.”
