James Corden Addresses The Restaurant Fiasco

A New York City restaurant owner accused the "Late Late Show" host of abusing his wait staff on multiple occasions.
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James Corden has addressed the hoopla about his behavior at a New York City restaurant, calling it “silly.”

The “Late Late Show” host was called out on Instagram by restaurateur Keith McNally on Monday as an “abusive customer” who had been cruel to wait staff on several occasions. McNally said Corden was banned from his restaurant, Balthazar. However, McNally later posted an update saying the comedian had called him to apologize “profusely” and was forgiven.

In an interview with the New York Times, Corden said the whole thing was beneath him and he didn’t want credit for going ahead with the meeting, which had originally been booked prior to the incident to discuss his latest project.

“I haven’t done anything wrong, on any level. So why would I ever cancel this?” he said of the interview. “I was there. I get it. I feel so Zen about the whole thing. Because I think it’s so silly. I just think it’s beneath all of us. It’s beneath you. It’s certainly beneath your publication.”

Corden was slammed on social media after McNally’s post, and a number of users circulated other accusations of rude behavior by Corden.

Corden told the Times he wasn’t really aware of the conversation the post had ignited but acknowledged he would “probably have to talk about it” on his show Monday.

He also slammed the media for amplifying the negative social media posts and compared it to a school principal helping out a classroom bully.

According to the Times, their interview took place at a New York restaurant, and at one point during the meeting, a woman at a nearby table complained about her eggs. Overhearing the exchange, Corden reportedly told the Times reporter: “Can you imagine now, if we just blasted her on Twitter? Would that be fair? This is my point. It’s insane.”

In one incident detailed by McNally, Corden blew up at a server over an egg yolk omelet his wife ordered. The original dish was reportedly sent back because it contained some egg white, and when the replacement dish included home fries instead of the requested salad, McNally said, Corden “began yelling like crazy” and telling the server “You can’t do your job!”

She was reportedly left shaken by the incident.

The Times said its interview was originally planned to discuss Corden’s new Amazon Prime Video mini-series, “Mammals,” and his departure from “The Late Late Show” next year.

McNally, the eccentric restaurateur and owner of several Manhattan establishments, routinely shares controversial views on social media. Last year, he banned former Vanity Fair editor-in-chief Graydon Carter from his venues after the media exec failed to show up for a lunch reservation.

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