A prominent restaurateur has called out James Corden for “abusive” behavior toward wait staff and banned the comedian from his New York City establishment Balthazar.
Keith McNally, creator of the popular French restaurant and many others, wrote in an Instagram post on Monday that the “Late Late Show” host 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.”
McNally said it was rare for him to nix a customer, but he had banned Corden that day. He shared two examples of Corden’s treatment of his staff and noted that the comedian had behaved similarly in another restaurant he previously owned, Cafe Luxembourg, several years ago.
In one instance, in June, the British comedian apparently found a hair in his food and after eating his main course, showed the hair to the manager ― referenced as G ― who was “very apologetic.”
“Corden was extremely nasty to G, and said: ‘Get us another round of drinks this second. And also take care of all of our drinks so far. This way I [don’t] write any nasty reviews in yelp or anything like that,’” McNally wrote, citing a manager’s report.
On Oct. 9, Corden was at Balthazar with his wife, TV producer Julia Carey, for brunch, according to McNally. Carey ordered an egg yolk omelet with salad.
“A few minutes after they received the food, James called their server, M. K. and told her there was a little bit of egg white mixed with the egg yolk,” McNally said. “M. K. informed the floor manager, G. 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 omelette myself!’” he wrote.
McNally said the server was apologetic and brought the floor manager, G, over to the table. G returned the dish and after that, “everything was fine,” he said, adding that G also offered them champagne glasses to “smooth things out.”
“G said that Corden was pleasant to him but nasty to the server,” McNally wrote, adding that the server was “very shaken.”
A representative for Corden did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
