Though Alexandre Evidente may have signed up to work 9-5, he realized that apparently, a few pissed-off podcast hosts outside of his company had more say on his hours than HR, finding himself under fire after Corporate Natalie and Corporate Bro – a.k.a. Natalie Marshall and Ross Pomerantz  — roasted his reasonable decision to sit out of a last minute early morning meeting.

The drama all began on Monday when Marshall and Pomerantz uploaded the second installment of their “Demoted” podcast, one partially dedicated to recounting horror stories of Gen Z-ers in the workplace.

“When asked to come in for an 8 am meeting, my new Gen-Z hire said, ‘ugh i’m sorry i can’t make it, I have a workout class,’” the influencer recalled of the incident, one submitted via DM, roughly 17 minutes into the episode. “Should this be allowed?”

Naturally, as corporate peeps are by any non-performative means of work/life balance,  both Marshall and Pomerantz were horrified by the employee’s answer.

“My visceral reaction was ‘Are you f—king kidding me?”” exclaimed Pomerantz. “My hand is shaking and it's not from the caffeine.”

Despite this immediate ire, it appears there was far more to the story than mentioned in the message — the fact that the offending 8 a.m. meeting was squarely outside of working hours.

Alexandre Evidente, the alleged subject of the now-infamous DM, headed to TikTok on Thursday with an explanation, revealing several of the logistical hurdles that caused him to skip the meeting.

“It was made very clear during the interview process that the working hours for this position is between 9 to 5 p.m. Eastern time and I am on Eastern time,” he said in his viral reply. “I made that very clear with HR because I have commitments outside of work.”

While Evidente added that he “could make a sacrifice” had he been given more notice, the fact that he had already paid for the 7:30 a.m. class added yet another wrench into attending the corporate sit-down.

“Let’s just say I skip the gym. Two things. When can I expect you to reimburse me for my class? And two, are you going to be paying me from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. or at the very least, let me leave at 4 p.m.?” he asked.

“Natalie, if your answer to both of those are ‘no,’ then there is no discussion needed, I will see you at 9 o’clock today,” Evidente concluded, noting that he had looped HR into the mix, sending them a copy of the podcast clip.

@trekfit #stitch with @Demoted huhhhhh?#corporatelife #gymrat #worklifebalance ♬ original sound - Alexandre Evidente

Roughly 12 hours later, it appears the fitness fiend got an answer to these burning inquiries, Marshall heading to TikTok with a widely demanded clarification.

After reiterating that no, Evidente was not her employee and attempting to pin their extreme reactions on editing, she ultimately conceded some ground, admitting that working beyond your allotted hours is not a great idea.

“Just to be clear, if you’re not getting paid to work before 9 a.m., you do not have to work before 9 a.m.!” she said, noting that she doesn’t condone that “in the slightest.”

@demotedpodcast #stitch with @Alexandre Evidente ♬ original sound - Demoted

But even with her notable step back, several fans weren’t convinced, dunking on “Corporate Natalie” for living up to her internet moniker.

“This was such a corporate answer,” replied one commenter.

“The Olympic rowing team is calling after seeing the amazing backpaddling,” added a second.

We can only hope that Evidente got to enjoy his morning workout … and that anyone who thinks otherwise gets a nice, long chat with HR.