James Corden breaks silence over restaurant ban and admits he initially " didn't think I'd done anything wrong"
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Actor and talk show host, James Corden, has broken his silence and addressed the ban he received from New York restaurant, Balthazar, after the eatery's owner, Keith McNally, took to Instagram to describe the celebrity as having been 'abusive' and 'rude' to his staff on more than one occasion.
"One can tell the true character of a person based on how they treat their server," McNally wrote in his post. "James Corden is a hugely gifted comedian, but a tiny cretin of a man... [He is] the most abusive customer to my Balthazar servers since the restaurant opened 25 years ago."
McNally also described two alleged incidents in the restaurant, which he claims took place on different days, wherein Corden demanded free drinks (and apparently threatened to write poor reviews if he wasn't given them) and on another told the waiter, who brought his wife a dish with the wrong side order, "You can't do your job!"
However, later McNally shared a follow-up post and explained that the ban on Corden has been lifted after he called to say sorry about the previous incidents. "Anyone magnanimous enough to apologise to a deadbeat layabout like me (and my staff) doesn't deserve to be banned from anywhere," he recanted. "Especially Balthazar. All is forgiven."
Now, James Corden has spoken out about the incident himself for the first time, saying that initially he didn't even realise he'd done anything wrong.
During Monday night's episode of his show, Corden said that because he hadn't raised his voice or been aggressive, he hadn't fully understood the extent to which he had upset the staff at Balthazar.
"Because I didn't shout or scream, I didn't get up out of my seat, I didn't call anyone names or use derogatory language, I've been walking around thinking that I haven't done anything wrong," he candidly admitted. "But the truth is I have made a rude, rude comment. And it was wrong. It was an unnecessary comment, it was ungracious to the server."
He added that after seeing McNally's Instagram post he instantly got in touch to "tell him how upset I was".
During the show, Corden also read out tweets that have been circulating about his behaviour and said he 'understood' them. He added that he "appreciated the call. I was happy that we got to clear the air. And I felt like we dealt with it privately, but by this point, the story was out there and more people were upset".
"I understand everybody getting upset and I accept everybody's opinion. I also hate, as I said to the owner that day, that I've ever upset anybody ever."
It seems that all is well that ends well as Corden also shared that he loves eating at Balthazar and hopes to be able to visit again in the future, and to apologise to staff in-person. McNally's most recent Instagram post on the matter, which he has dubbed his 'last word' on the situation, seems to imply that Corden is very welcome to do so too.
McNally told his followers, "Last Night on his TV show, James Corden very graciously apologized for his outburst at Balthazar. It takes a real man to do this. In the past, I've behaved much worse than Corden, but wasn't man enough to apologize.
"For this reason, I'm going to lift the ban on Corden and impose one on myself instead. I'm going to ban myself from Balthazar for 2 weeks. People who live in Glass Houses…"
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