James Corden banned from restaurant, deemed "most abusive customer to servers"
British comedian James Corden is in the spotlight after being banned — and then unbanned — from a restaurant for being abusive to servers.
On Monday night, restaurateur Keith McNally of the swanky French brasserie Balthazar in New York City, wrote a thorough Instagram post about why he had banned Corden from two of his eateries.
“James Corden is a hugely gifted comedian, but a tiny cretin of a man,” McNally began. He added that Corden was also “the most abusive customer” to his Balthazar servers since the restaurant opened 25 years ago.
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The restaurateur also shared two manager’s reports detailing Corden’s treatment of Balthazar staff.
According to the reports, in June, Corden showed a manager a hair that he had found in his main course — the main course that he’d already eaten.
Despite the manager apologizing, Corden decided to be “extremely nasty.”
“Get us another round of drinks this second,” he said. “And also take care of all of our drinks so far. This way I [won’t] write any nasty reviews in Yelp or anything like that.”
The second report discusses Corden and his wife Julia Carey’s visit for brunch on October 9. Carey ordered an egg yolk omelette with gruyere cheese and salad.
McNally said that a few minutes after the couple got their food, Corden called the party’s server and told them Carey’s omelette had a little bit of egg white mixed with the yolk. The dish was remade, but it was erroneously served with fries instead of a salad.
This made Corden blow his top off 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!” he told the manager, leaving her very shaken. She apologized; the dish was returned to the kitchen and, to smooth things out, the couple was given glasses of champagne.
Six hours after McNally’s post — and hundreds of comments under it from disappointed Corden fans — the restaurateur posted once again, but his time, to announce that Corden had been unbanned.
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“James Corden just called me and apologized profusely. Having f*cked up myself more than most people, I strongly believe in second chances,” he wrote, joking about hosting Corden’s talk show for nine months in order to rescind the ban.
Then, the caption took an oddly self-deprecating turn.
“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.”
Commenters said that while it was gracious of McNally to accept Corden’s apology, the star should have apologized to the Balthazar staff instead, with some suggesting he leave a very hefty tip for them on his next visit, too.
Several others alleged that Corden had only apologized to save face after several media outlets had published the story, and should not be re-allowed entry.
What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments.
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