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James Corden breaks silence over being banned from New York restaurant
26 Oct 2022
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James Corden has broken his silence on his behaviour at New York restaurant, Balthazar, after the eatery temporarily barred him from returning.
The actor spoke about the incident in his opening speech on The Late Late Show, acknowledging that he had been “rude” and also explaining the story through his own eyes.
You can watch the apology below:
Owner Keith McNally had taken to social media to brand the Gavin and Stacey star a “tiny cretin of a man”, and went on to post details of two occasions where Corden had reportedly been “extremely nasty” to staff members.
However, in his speech, Corden said he initially hadn’t thought he’d done anything wrong, and was simply speaking up for his wife, who was given “food which she was allergic to”.
“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,” he said.
“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.”
Corden said he reached out to the restaurant owner “immediately” after he saw his angry post, and adds that they “had a good talk”.
“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,” he said.
The TV star added: “I get it. I totally understand. I understand everybody getting upset, and I accept everybody’s opinion.”
When he’s back in New York, Corden also told the public he plans to visit the restaurant again, and “apologise in person”.
It comes after Balthazar’s owner had branded Corden the “most abusive customer to my Balthazar servers since the restaurant opened 25 years ago”.