A New York City restaurant owner posted an eyebrow-raising playback of two separate incidents of the comedian and late-night show host mistreating his waiting staff, initially banning the star. However, after a phone call from Corden, he's been allowed back in.
Restaurant owner Keith McNally posted a pretty scathing Instagram post of James Corden yesterday, claiming that his restaurant staff had to put up with the "tiny Cretin of a man" on numerous occasions.
McNally wrote that the actor had been banned from his restaurants, Balthazar and Cafe Luxembourg, writing that he has been "the most abusive customer to my Balthazar servers since the restaurant opened 25 years ago".
His Instagram post recounts two separate incidents with James Corden in each restaurant, which were written down following each happening. The first says that Corden was "extremely nasty" to the manager and demanded a "round of drinks this second". He allegedly said he'd "write nasty reviews" if the server didn't do what they were told.
The next entry is even more eye-opening, with Corden sending something called an egg yolk omelette back into the kitchen because there was "a little bit of egg white mixed" in. Following a kitchen mix-up, McNally writes that this is when Corden "began yelling like crazy".
He yelled at the server: "You can't do your job! You can't do your job! Maybe I should go into the kitchen and cook the omelette myself!"
The manager noted that "Corden was pleasant to him but nasty to the server", and the poor server was left "very shaken" after the incident.
McNally wrote "I don't often 86 a customer, to today I 86'd Corden", meaning that he had banned the late-night show host from his restaurants.
However, the scathing Instagram post didn't go unnoticed by the man himself, and he quickly called the restaurant owner to apologise for his behaviour.
Publishing another Instagram post a few hours later, McNally wrote that he has now rescinded his ban because he believes in "second chances". Is this not technically a third chance...?
He writes: "James Corden just called me and apologized profusely. Having fucked up myself more than most people, I strongly believe in second chances. [...] Anyone magnanimous enough to apologize to a deadbeat layabout like me (and my staff) doesn’t deserve to be banned from anywhere. Especially Balthazar. So Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Corden, Jimmy Corden. All is Forgiven. xx"
The restaurant owner spoke with Page Six about his Instagram posts, telling the publication that he was "reluctant" to highlight Corden's treatment of his staff, but "did so out of loyalty to restaurant servers everywhere".
He added: "Their jobs are hard enough already. They shouldn’t have to take this kind of abuse from anyone, especially the rich and famous."
