--- title: Paul McCartney Talks 'Paul Is Dead' With James Corden description: Paul McCartney has finally addressed the conspiracy theory that he died in 1966 and was secretly replaced by a look-alike. canonical: https://time.com/5373174/paul-mccartney-paul-is-dead-james-corden/ author: Megan McCluskey article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-08-21T16:24:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-12T18:04:51.000Z og:title: Paul McCartney Addresses 'Paul Is Dead' Conspiracy Theory og:description: The former Beatle revealed his reaction to the rumors og:url: https://time.com/5373174/paul-mccartney-paul-is-dead-james-corden/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf6ad985f17c2b8d9/698938400a4a2267539d37e0/james-corden-paul-mccartney-jail.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: The Late Late Show with James Corden og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Paul McCartney Addresses 'Paul Is Dead' Conspiracy Theory twitter:description: The former Beatle revealed his reaction to the rumors twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf6ad985f17c2b8d9/698938400a4a2267539d37e0/james-corden-paul-mccartney-jail.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Paul McCartney Talks to James Corden About That 'Paul Is Dead' Conspiracy Theory in the Best Way > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically.  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Updated: Dec 12, 2023 6:04 PM UTCPublished: Aug 21, 2018 4:24 PM UTC  Paul McCartney joins James Corden for Carpool Karaoke in London on The Late Late Show with James Corden Paul McCartney joins James Corden for Carpool Karaoke in London on The Late Late Show with James CordenCraig Sugden/CBS via Getty Images  by [Megan McCluskey](https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/)  ## Megan McCluskey Staff Writer Updated: Dec 12, 2023 6:04 PM UTCPublished: Aug 21, 2018 4:24 PM UTC After nearly 50 years of dealing with a [conspiracy theory](http://time.com/5356851/what-is-qanon/) that he died and was secretly replaced by a look-alike, [Paul McCartney](http://time.com/5367945/paul-mccartney-james-corden-office-tour/) has finally addressed those [“Paul is dead”](http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1860871%5F1860876%5F1860997,00.html) rumors. During an [extended cut](https://www.cbs.com/shows/late-late-show/video/Ug3KP0we6TbNX1qCj1qFah8IOaZJEe%5F6/carpool-karaoke-when-corden-met-mccartney-live-from-liverpool/) of his “[Carpool Karaoke](http://time.com/5319699/paul-mccartney-carpool-karaoke/)” segment that was filmed in his hometown of Liverpool and aired on Monday’s episode of _The Late Late Show_, the former Beatle revealed his reaction to the far-fetched fan theory. “We just kind of let it go,” he explained. McCartney also discussed the time he spent nine days in a Japanese prison after getting caught with marijuana at the Tokyo airport in 1980\. “I still am hazy as to how that happened, but it did,” he said. “And in my suitcase, yes, there was some marijuana in the suitcase. And I ended up in jail.” In addition to these fascinating anecdotes, McCartney gifted viewers with renditions of Beatles classics such as “Lady Madonna,” “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da,” “I Wanna Be Your Man” and “Drive My Car.” Watch the original version of McCartney’s “Carpool Karaoke” segment below. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5373174/paul-mccartney-paul-is-dead-james-corden/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5373174/paul-mccartney-paul-is-dead-james-corden/"},"headline":"Paul McCartney Talks to James Corden About That 'Paul Is Dead' Conspiracy Theory in the Best Way","datePublished":"2018-08-21T16:24:05.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-12T18:04:51.000Z","description":"The former Beatle revealed his reaction to the rumors","url":"https://time.com/5373174/paul-mccartney-paul-is-dead-james-corden/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Television","Paul McCartney","TV","Late Night Television","The Late Late Show","james corden"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf6ad985f17c2b8d9/698938400a4a2267539d37e0/james-corden-paul-mccartney-jail.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Megan McCluskey","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/megan-mccluskey/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf6ad985f17c2b8d9/698938400a4a2267539d37e0/james-corden-paul-mccartney-jail.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"The Late Late Show with James Corden","caption":"The Late Late Show with James Corden","creditText":"Craig Sugden/CBS via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5373174/paul-mccartney-paul-is-dead-james-corden/","name":"Paul McCartney Talks to James Corden About That 'Paul Is Dead' Conspiracy Theory in the Best Way"}}]}] ```