James Corden made news the other day when the owner of the famed New York City restaurant Balthazar, Keith McNally, took to Instagram to announce that the popular CBS Late Late Show host was banned from his establishment.
In the post, McNally called out Corden for the latter’s “abusive” behavior towards the staff of the restaurant. However, less than twenty-four hours later, McNally rescinded the ban and shared that Corden was now welcome to return to Balthazar.
In light of this recent incident involving Corden, netizens couldn’t help but dredge up his past. This isn’t the first time Corden made headlines because of his attitude.
James Corden has a history of questionable behavior.
On October 2017, Corden was the emcee for the amfAR gala in Los Angeles. In a clip that made rounds online, he could be seen taking the stage and seemingly poking fun at film producer Harvey Weinstein’s victims.
Credit: THR News
“Right here in L.A., it’s so beautiful, Harvey Weinstein has already asked tonight up to his hotel to give him a massage,” he said.
It received a mixed response from the audience, with some of them even groaning.
“I don’t know whether that groan was that you like that joke or you don’t like that joke,” Corden added. “If you don’t like that joke, you should probably leave now.”
Nobody left, but there was an almost palpable tension and discomfort among the crowd.
“It has been weird this week watching Harvey Weinstein in hot water,” he continued. “Ask any of the women who watched him take a bath — it’s weird watching Harvey Weinstein in hot water.”
Apparently unperturbed by how his tasteless jokes were received, Corden ended it by saying, “Harvey Weinstein wanted to come tonight, although he’ll settle for whatever potted plant is closest.”
These quips were in reference to the claims of Weinstein’s victims, most of whom were actresses. When the clip was shared on Twitter, Corden came under fire for making jokes at the expense of dozens of women who bravely spoke up about their horrifying experience with Weinstein.
Corden then took to Twitter to apologize and explain.
“To be clear, sexual assault is no laughing matter. I was not trying to make light of Harvey’s inexcusable behavior,” Corden tweeted, “but to shame him, the abuser, not his victims. I am truly sorry for anyone offended, that was never my intention.”
In addition to this, Corden has been repeatedly accused of racism, especially when he dissed Asian food in his culturally insensitive “Spill Your Guts” segment.
The NYC restaurant issue was because of an egg yolk omelet.
Credit: @balthazarny
Restaurateur Keith McNally owns Balthazar, a French restaurant popular among celebrities and serves more than a thousand customers a day. The establishment is known for serving scrumptious dishes, like lobster spaghetti, steak frites, duck liver mousse, escargots, and roasted king salmon,
In an Instagram post earlier this week, McNally blasted Corden, calling the host “a tiny cretin of a man” and “the most abusive customer to my Balthazar servers since the restaurant opened 25 years ago.”
McNally then cited two separate incidents. The first one occurred in June.
After eating the main course, Corden called the attention of a manager and complained about a hair on his food. The manager was “apologetic,” but Corden was “nasty” to him.
“Get us another round of drinks this second,” Corden allegedly told the manager. “And also take care of all of our drinks so far. This way I write any nasty reviews in yelp or anything like that.”
The second incident happened more recently, on October 9. Corden was having brunch with his wife, who ordered “an egg yolk omelette with gruyere cheese and salad.” James called the server because “there was a little bit of egg white mixed with the egg yolk.”
After the server informed the floor manager, the kitchen staff remade the dish and sent it back. Unfortunately, this time, it had home fries instead of salad. And that was when Corden exploded.
“You can’t do your job!” he yelled at the server. “Maybe I should go into the kitchen and cook the omelette myself!”
The manager went to the table to placate Corden by offering him and his wife promo champagne glasses. McNally went on to say that Corden was “pleasant” to the manager but “nasty” to the server. And well, you know what they say about people who are rude to their servers.
James Corden immediately did some damage control.
Credit: @latelateshow
At a time when cancel culture can make or break a celebrity’s (or host’s) career, Corden took it upon himself to fix the issue. He called McNally and “apologized profusely.” McNally wrote in a follow-up post that he “strongly” believed in “second chances,” and because “all is forgiven,” Corden is now welcome to dine at Balthazar.
McNally also admitted that he was “feeling strange” about the whole incident.
“On the one hand, he was definitely abusive to my staff. On the other hand, I feel really sorry for him right now,” McNally captioned a photo of him, his daughter, and his daughter’s best friend. “Like most cowards, I want it both ways. F*ck it, I’m going to get drunk.”
Still, most people aren’t impressed with the way McNally backtracked. Some of the commenters on his post even questioned if Corden directly apologized to the staff.
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