Viral ‘Corn Kid’ Tariq Hits the Red Carpet for Broadway’s ‘Shucked’ — a New Musical About Corn

The 7-year-old, who went viral in August for his love of corn, said he had a “corntastic” time at the premiere

Nina Westervelt/Variety via Getty

Tariq, the 7-year-old dubbed the “Corn Kid” who first went viral online in August, was in his element Tuesday night as he attended a premiere of Shucked, Broadway’s newest original musical that features corn prominently in its story.

The internet star posted for photographers on the red carpet, smiling with the life-sized corn imagery behind him.

“Tonight was absolutely CORNNNTASTICCC 🌽,” he wrote on his TikTok of the premiere. “Thank you so much to the cast of @shuckedmusical for inviting me.”

He shared a series of photos from the event, including several pictures where he’s grinning ear-to-ear on the red carpet, and another that appears to be either backstage or onstage of the Broadway musical.

In another video shared to his TikTok — where he has amassed over 900,000 followers and more than 6 million likes — he raced to shuck an ear of corn while a journalist from Playbill timed him. He successfully removed the husk of the corn in just 21 seconds.

Nina Westervelt/Variety via Getty

Shucked follows the story of the fictional Cobb County that goes into crisis mode when its opulent corn crops mysteriously start dying, and the lengths they go to fix the issue.

The musical, which opened to rave reviews, features a book by Tony winner Robert Horn (Tootsie, Designing Women) and a score by the Nashville songwriting team of Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally, who collectively have earned three Grammys between them. Three-time Tony winner Jack O’Brien (Hairspray, The Front Page) directs.

Among its stars are Glee alum Alex Newell, as well as Caroline Innerbichler, John Behlmann, Kevin Cahoon, Andrew Durand, Ashley D. Kelley and Grey Henson.

They’re joined by an ensemble comprising ofJimmy Brewer, Audrey Cardwell, Dwayne Clark, Rheaume Crenshaw, Jaygee Macapugay, Scott Stangland, Yasmeen Sulieman and Quinn VanAntwerp, plus swings Miki Abraham, Ken Wulf Clark, Traci Elaine Lee and Alan Wiggins.

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Meanwhile, for the “Corn Kid,” Tuesday night’s Broadway premiere is just another in a string of high-profile events and appearances since he found viral fame.

He first was catapulted into social media sucess when he was interviewed by Recess Therapy host Julian Shapiro-Barnum and shared his immense love for corn with the host.

The video started with Tariq saying, “For me, I really like corn,” as he clutched his own grilled corn on a stick. Shapiro-Barnum then followed up by asking what he likes about the sweet vegetable. “Ever since I was told that corn was real, it tasted good,” Tariq adorably answered. “But when I tried it with butter, everything changed! I love corn.”

The virality of the clip shocked Shapiro-Barnum, too. “Recess Therapy has had other viral videos in the past but it had never gotten to the point where literally everybody I knew was sending it to me,” he told The Guardian. “I started seeing it everywhere; it became its own entity.”

Related:’Corn Kid’ Tariq Hands Out Thanksgiving Donations of Canned Corn with City Harvest

From that viral clip came a catchy remix from music group The Gregory Brothers, who are also known as Schmoyoho on TikTok and YouTube, which further propelled Tariq’s online fame.

He was featured in online videos from restaurants like Chipotle — where he filled a burrito bowl with nothing but corn — and even appeared on The Drew Barrymore Show, where he joined the host and Ross Matthews in a taste-testing session of a variety of corn products.

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“Why do you think everybody loves you so much?” Barrymore asked Tariq.

“Mostly because, like, the corn fans, and my love of corn,” he replied. “But also because some teenager was saying I looked adorable.”

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