James Corden Speaks Out About Restaurant Ban: ‘It’s So Silly’
James Corden is addressing his restaurant ban and subsequent 'unban'. In a new interview with The New York Times yesterday (October 20) the Late Late Show host said he had done nothing wrong “on any level.” Balthazar restaurant owner Keith McNally called Corden “a hugely gifted comedian, but a tiny cretin of a man” on social media earlier this week and banned him from his New York establishment.
McNally also accused the “Carpool Karaoke” host of being “the most abusive customer to my Balthazar servers since the restaurant opened 25 years ago.” In a follow-up post hours later, he said that Corden had “apologized profusely” and the ban was lifted.
Now, Corden told the New York Times, “I haven’t done anything wrong, on any level. So why would I ever cancel this [interview]? I was there. I get it,” the late-night talk show host said of his drama with McNally. He added, “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.” During the interview, which was conducted at another New York eatery, another customer at a nearby table sent back her eggs. Watching the situation, Corden pointed out, “Can you imagine now, if we just blasted her on Twitter? Would that be fair? This is my point. It’s insane,” Corden said.
Getting wind of the New York Times interview, McNally took to Instagram once more with a photo of Corden and called him out. “STORM IN A RESTAURANT TEACUP,” he began his caption. “I’ve no wish to kick a man when he’s down. Especially one who’s worth $100 Million, but when James Corden said in yesterday’s NY Times that he hadn’t done ‘anything wrong, on any level,’ was he joking? Or was he denying being abusive to my servers? Whatever Corden meant, his implication was clear: he didn’t do it. Although I didn’t witness the incident, lots of my restaurant’s floor staff did. They had nothing to gain by lying. Corden did.”
McNally then trashed Corden’s fandom by claiming he hardly has any and offered him a deal if he were to “come clean.”
“I wish James Corden would live up to his Almighty initials and come clean. If the supremely talented actor wants to retrieve the respect he had from all his fans (all 4 of them) before this incident, then he should at least admit he did wrong. If he goes one step further and apologizes to the 2 servers he insulted, I’ll let him eat for free at Balthazar for the next 10 years.”
