By James Corden admits he was ‘ungracious’
James Corden has admitted he was “ungracious” to a restaurant server in an incident that resulted in a temporary ban from New York eatery Balthazar.
Speaking on The Late Late Show on Monday, Corden said “it was never my intention” to offend restaurant staff.
Keith McNally, who owns Balthazar, said last week that Corden had been an “abusive customer” after some apparent errors with his orders.
He added that Corden had since called and “apologised profusely”.
Corden said regarding Mr. McNally’s claims: “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.
“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.”
Addressing viewers of his US shows, Corden said his remarks had been “in the heat of the moment” but said he would “apologise in person” to the staff at Balthazar.
Corden said that after seeing Mr. McNally’s post he had “immediately” contacted the restaurant owner.
“[I told him] how upset I was that anybody was hurt by anything that I had done and anything that I had said and we had a good talk,” he said.
“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.”
Corden’s comments slightly contradict an interview in the New York Times over the weekend, where he told the newspaper that he hadn’t “done anything wrong, on any level,” adding that he felt “so Zen about the whole thing. Because I think it’s so silly”.
Mr. McNally posted that Corden had visited his restaurant in June and been “extremely nasty”, with the other incident in November, where Mr. McNally accused Corden of yelling and again, “being nasty”.
Mr. McNally lifted his ban last week after receiving Corden’s apology over the phone, posting on social media: “Anyone magnanimous enough to apologise to a deadbeat layabout like me (and my staff) doesn’t deserve to be banned from anywhere. Especially Balthazar.”
Corden announced in April that he was stepping down as host of The Late Late Show.
(Image:JamesCorden/Instagram)
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