The restaurant’s owner called Corden “the most abusive customer” he’s had in 25 years.
Tales of celebrities being rude to everyday people are never a good look, but when a celebrity bases their entire public persona off of being bubbly and sweet, these types of stories can be even more damaging — both to their reputation and to fans. It could be part of the reason why allegations of Ellen DeGeneres’s toxic workplace environment, where employees were fired after taking medical leave and experienced racism and microaggressions, hit so hard: Outwardly, her motto was “be kind,” but behind the scenes, the show was anything but. There were also rumors about DeGeneres herself being rude to staff, including that she forbade employees from looking her in the eye (DeGeneres denied this claim). Now it looks like DeGeneres might not be the only sunny talk show host to be accused of having a public persona that doesn’t quite match up to their real-life behavior, as James Corden was briefly banned from an NYC hotspot over alleged rudeness to its staff.
On Oct. 17, Keith McNally, the owner of a number of Manhattan restaurants including Balthazar, Pastis, and Minetta Tavern, posted a photo of James Corden to Instagram, writing in the caption, “James Corden is a Hugely gifted comedian, but a tiny Cretin of a man. And the most abusive customer to my Balthazar servers since the restaurant opened 25 years ago.”
Wait, what is Balthazar?
Balthazar, a French restaurant in Soho, opened in 1997 and has since hosted celebrities such as Taylor Swift, Cate Blanchett, and Madonna. Chef Eric Ripert calls it his “favorite New York place,” but James Corden probably wouldn’t say the same — at least, not according to McNally’s accounts of his visits to the brasserie. In the post, he announced he “86’d” Corden, detailing two alleged interactions that informed his decision.
Why was James Corden banned from Balthazar?
The first instance happened in June when McNally says Corden showed a manager a hair in his food (after having already eaten his main course). He writes that the manager was “very apologetic” but Corden was “extremely nasty” and said, “Get us another round of drinks this second. And also take care of all of our drinks so far.” Corden’s salary from The Late Late Show is reportedly in the millions, and his net worth is, by some estimates, upwards of $50 million.
The second alleged incident took place on October 9, when Corden and his wife, Julia Carey, visited Balthazar for brunch. McNally reports that Carey ordered “an egg yolk omelet [sic] with gruyere cheese and salad” but a few minutes after the order arrived at their table, Corden called over their server to complain that “there was a little bit of egg white mixed with the egg yolk.”
This raises some questions: What exactly is an egg yolk omelet? Why would you want one? And how can you tell if the egg whites have been mixed in? But the post goes on, “The kitchen remade the dish but unfortunately sent it with home fries instead of salad. That’s when James Corden began yelling like crazy to the server: “You can’t do your job! You can’t do your job! Maybe I should go into the kitchen and cook the omelet myself!”
After the server brought over the manager, who was very apologetic and offered complimentary glasses of champagne, things seem to have cooled down. The manager reported Corden was “pleasant to him but nasty to the server.”
Soon, media outlets were running with the story, and McNally spoke to Page Six, revealing that Corden had exhibited similar behavior at another of his restaurants, Cafe Luxembourg. He also told the outlet that, while he was “reluctant” to put Corden on blast, he ultimately did so “out of loyalty to restaurant servers everywhere,” adding, “Their jobs are hard enough already. They shouldn’t have to take this kind of abuse from anyone, especially the rich and famous.” According to a 2022 report by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the leisure and hospitality industry had the highest quit rate, highest unemployment rate, and the third-highest labor force shortage in 2021. A 2021 survey of 4,700 former, current, and hopeful restaurant industry workers from Black Box Intelligence found that 62 percent of workers had been on the receiving end of emotional abuse and disrespect from customers, and 49 percent reported abuse from managers.
But Corden’s banning from Balthazar didn’t last long. About seven hours after his first post, McNally posted another snap of James Corden, revealing, “James Corden just called my and apologized profusely. Having f*cked up myself more than most people, I firmly believe in second changes.”
He went on, “Anyone magnanimous enough to apologize to a deadbeat layabout like me (and my staff) doesn’t deserve to be banned from anywhere. Especially Balthazar.” He closed out the post, writing, “All is Forgiven [sic].”
If there’s a lesson to be learned here, aside from always being kind to your servers and tipping well, it’s that a genuine apology can go a long way — and it just might get you the opportunity to order more egg yolk omelets.
What does James Corden have to say about all this?
The late night host addressed the incident in an interview with The New York Times that was published on Thursday, in which he described Balthazar’s beef with him as “such a silly thing to talk about.”
The conversation with the Times was originally scheduled as part of the promotional cycle for Corden’s new miniseries, Mammals, and he balked at the idea that he might have canceled it because of all the bad press he’s been getting this week.
“I haven’t done anything wrong, on any level,” Corden said. “So why would I ever cancel this? 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.”
And while he claimed he hasn’t read the coverage about his banning — and adds that he doubts most people outside of Twitter are aware of it in the first place — he did admit he’ll likely address the situation on his show next week.
“I haven’t really read anything,” Corden said. “It’s strange. It’s strange when you were there. I think I’m probably going to have to talk about it on Monday’s show. My feeling, often, is, never explain, never complain. But I’ll probably have to talk about it.”
Why is James Corden apologizing again?
Unsurprisingly, Corden’s comments to the Times that he did nothing wrong went over like a lead balloon, forcing the comedian to change tacks once again. On Monday, Oct. 24, Corden opened The Late Late Show admitting he’d made “a rude comment” to a server at Balthazar and acknowledging it was “wrong”.
He said that he made the rude remark after his wife was given “food she was allergic to” even though they’d given the restaurant a heads-up about her allergy. (That explains the all-yolk omelet.) He said that when the order came back “wrong to the table the third time, in the heat of the moment, I made a sarcastic comment about cooking it myself.”
“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 have been walking around thinking that I hadn’t done anything wrong, right? But the truth is I have. I made a rude comment, and it was wrong,” Corden said. “It was an unnecessary comment. It was ungracious to the server.”
He said, “It is a comment I deeply regret.”
McNally took issue with Corden’s seeming denial of the incident in the Times, and he took to Instagram once again, writing, “Although I didn’t witness the incident, lots of my restaurant’s floor staff did. They had nothing to gain by lying. Corden did.” He urged the actor to “at least admit he did wrong,” adding, “If he goes one step further and apologizes to the 2 servers he insulted, I’ll l et him eat for free at Balthazar for the next 10 years.”
With Corden’s latest apology, McNally seems ready to bury the hatchet — hopefully this time for good. “James Corden very graciously apologized for his outburst at Balthazar,” he wrote in an Instagram caption. “It takes a real man to do this,” he continued, jokingly concluding that he would lift Corden’s Balthazar ban and ban himself from his own restaurant for two weeks instead.
