Taye Diggs’ transformation into what he calls Hot Fella has his followers giving him the side-eye.
The 54-year-old actor starred in a June 9 Instagram ad to promote their third season of HBO Max’s series “And Just Like That.” In the show — a spinoff of the popular “Sex In the City” series — a recurring character named Anthony Marentino owns a bread delivery service called Hot Fellas.
The concept behind the series is simple: Marentino hires attractive men to deliver pastries around New York City. Where does Diggs come in? In his Instagram post, Diggs suited up as a Hot Fella to announce that real-life Hot Fellas will be in Cooper Square for two days handing out merch, coffee, and pastries to promote the show. But some people were too thrown off by the outfit to hear the message.
Diggs put on the eye-catching Hot Fella uniform that the actors wear in the show, which consists of a fitted denim romper that zips up in the front. The words “Hot Fellas Baked Goods” is plastered on the back of the uniform in a yellow, blue, and white logo.
Digg’s romper stops mid thigh and requires the “employee” to be shirtless underneath so the chest can be shown. As if that wasn’t striking enough, he completed his look with blue striped tube socks that come up to the calf and Timberland boots.
“I got the Hot Fellas uniform. You get the real thing,” he wrote in the caption.
The video starts with the former host opening a door and stepping in the room. Greeting his followers Diggs said, “Hey, y’all, what’s happening,” before smacking himself on his bottom. “Do I got your attention? I bet I do,” he said.
“Look, you see the uniform, right? You guessed it. I have been made a Hot Fella,” Diggs continued. He later added, “Listen, we’ve all realized I’ve been a hot fellow for quite some time but now … it’s official.”
He then shared the exciting news that Hot Fellas will be coming “off the screen and into real life.”
Fans distracted by the announcement wrote their reactions to his outfit in the comments.
Many asked, “WTF you wearing boy?” while more outraged people said, “Taye, please…you think cause you been fine forever…you can just wear anything.”
A third in disbelief about what they were seeing wrote, “Is that jean suit romper fam..with Timb’s?”
A few even had jokes, writing, “Yo dog ! Does that onesie come in a 3x? Asking for a friend.” Another noted, “What set did you find that romper on? At the back of Warner Bros?”
But Diggs did not win many over with his look. “If you don’t take that off.”
The Hot Fellas pop-up will be open on June 14 and 15 on a first-come, first-serve basis. According to HBO Max’s press release, attendees can come for free and get “house-baked breads and pastries, fresh coffee, cheeky branding, character-themed packaging, surprise-and-delight moments, and exclusive ‘Hot Fellas’ merchandise.”
The streaming service has taken it a step further by partnering with Grubhub and Seamless to deliver a “limited-edition Hot Fellas Bakery Bundle” to fans. Only people living in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago will have access to order the assortment of baked goods to eat as they watch the show.
The new season premiered on May 29.
