James Corden finally admits he was ‘wrong’ in Balthazar debacle
Days after insisting he hadn’t “done anything wrong, on any level,” James Corden finally addressed his Balthazar shame — meekly admitting he “deeply” regrets being so “rude” to restaurant staff.
“When you make a mistake, you’ve got to take responsibility,” the late-night host told viewers on Monday, days after snipping that being dubbed a “most abusive customer” was “beneath” him.
His behavior was “unnecessary,” “ungracious,” “rude” and “wrong,” he finally admitted.
Corden addressed his own public shaming at the start of his first episode back on “The Late Late Show,” joking that he had come off “a total switch off” with “no phone, no TV” — quipping: “Did I miss anything?”
He then finally addressed famed Big Apple restaurateur Keith McNally banning him from the downtown hotspot over his abuse.
With his parents, Malcolm and Margaret, watching on from the audience, the 44-year-old British comedian said that it was his dad who told him he needed to face up to the barrage of criticism and admit he was in the wrong.
He detailed how he had gone to the Spring Street hotspot a few weeks ago for breakfast, calling Balthazar “one of my absolute favorite restaurants.”
“Genuinely, I love it there,” he said., “If I lived in New York, I’d go every day … on the proviso that they would let me in,” he quipped.
During their meal, his wife, Julia, was repeatedly brought the wrong order despite warning that she “has a serious food allergy,” Corden insisted.
“As her meal came wrong to the table the third time, in the heat of the moment I made I made a sarcastic, rude comment about cooking it myself,” he said, without revealing the actual wording.
“It is a comment I deeply regret,” he said, insisting he has “such respect” for wait staff.
“The team of that restaurant are so great — that’s why I love it there,” he said.
The manager even brought them champagne to apologize for the error, he said, quipping: “Even for me, it was too early to start drinking.”
He appeared emotional as he insisted that because he “didn’t shout or scream” or “call anyone names or use derogatory language” he had assumed he “hadn’t done anything wrong.”
“But the truth is, I had. I made a rude comment, and it was wrong. It was an unnecessary comment. It was ungracious to the server.”
Noting McNally’s public shaming, Corden insisted he was also being attacked for “a meal that I think was back in 2014 when I sent a dish back that had hair in it.”
Despite earlier saying that he hadn’t “really read” McNally’s now-viral comments, Corden now admitted that he’d in fact immediately obtained the restaurateur’s phone number.
“I called him straight away and I told him how upset I was” that “anybody was hurt by anything that I had done and anything that I had said.”
“We had a good talk. … I was happy that we got to clear the air,” he said, joking that he assumed it would remain private.
Instead, he flashed up some of the extreme hate messages he received online. “I get it. I totally understand. I understand everybody getting upset and I accept everybody’s opinion,” he said.
“I also hate … that I’ve ever upset anybody ever. It was never my intention. It just wasn’t — and I love that restaurant. I love the staff there.
“I hope I’m allowed in again one day, so when I’m back in New York I can go there and apologize in person — which is something I will absolutely do,” he said.
