James Corden has admitted he was “ungracious” to a waiter who served him at Balthazar in New York City, as he addressed his temporary ban from the restaurant.
Last week, the talk show host was briefly barred from the Manhattan eatery after the owner Keith McNally claimed he had been “extremely nasty” to his staff on two separate occasions.
However, the restaurateur later revoked the ban after James allegedly called him and “apologised profusely”.
On Monday night, James addressed the incident as he returned to host The Late Late Show on CBS.
Opening the show, the 44-year-old said: “Last week, there were stories about me being banned from a restaurant. And at the time I considered, you know, tweeting about it or Instagramming about it.”
James told viewers that he likes to adopt a “British attitude” to things, and to “never complain, never explain.”
But the talk show host changed his tune after his father gave him some sound advice.
“As my dad pointed out to me on Saturday — he said, ‘Son, well, you did complain, so you might need to explain.’ Look, when you make a mistake, you’ve gotta take responsibility. So I thought I would, if it’s okay, share with you what happened,” he continued.
James went on to claim that his wife Julia was given food “she was allergic to” even after they explained her food allergies to the server.
“In the heat of the moment, I made a sarcastic rude comment about cooking it myself,” he confessed. “It is a comment I deeply regret.”
“I understand the difficulties of being a server. I worked shifts at restaurants for years. I have such respect, and I value anyone that does such a job. And the team at that restaurant are so great. That’s why I love it there.”
James also said he thought the issue was resolved after the staff brought them a bottle of champagne “as an apology”.
“I’ve been walking around thinking that I hadn’t done anything wrong, right? But the truth is, I made a rude comment, and it was wrong,” he admitted.
“It was an unnecessary comment. It was ungracious to the server.”
In his original post on Instagram, Mr. McNally branded James the most “abusive customer to my Balthazar servers since the restaurant opened 25 years ago”.
View this post on Instagram
He shared parts of a manager’s report on Instagram, alleging that The Late Late Show host had been “extremely nasty” to his staff on two separate occasions.
During one alleged incident earlier this month, the manager claimed James started “yelling like crazy” and repeatedly told a server “you can’t do your job”. The report added that the server “was very shaken” but “continued to finish her shift”.
Keith said he banned James from dining at Balthazar as a result of his alleged behaviour, but later lifted the ban after the comedian called him to apologise.
The restaurateur wrote in a second Instagram post: “James Corden just called me and apologized profusely. Having f**ked up myself more than most people, I strongly believe in second chances.”
“So if James Corden lets me host his Late Late Show for 9 months, I’ll immediately rescind his ban from Balthazar. No, of course not. But….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. xx.”
