“Most abusive customer” James Corden leaves a bad taste in restaurant staff’s mouth

Monday, October 17, James Corden was briefly banned from the famed New York bistro Balthazar for “extremely nasty” behavior. Restaurant owner Keith McNally publicly “86’d” the host of The Late Late Show and called him “the most abusive customer” on an Instagram post.

Apparently, Corden behaved very badly not on one but two occasions at the upscale dining venue. McNally detailed both incidents in the post, where he labeled Corden as abusive and deemed him “a tiny Cretin of a man.” During the first event, James Corden was allegedly extremely rude to one of the restaurant managers in June after finding a hair in his food.

While the manager was very apologetic, Corden became furious. Not only did he demand another round of drinks, but he also insisted Balthazar foot the bill for the beverages. Apparently, this would appease the comedian and talk show host enough not to leave a negative review on Yelp or similar sites.

The post further suggested another similar encounter took place on October 9. This time, Corden and his wife Julia Carey were at Balthazar for a Sunday brunch. Carey ordered an egg yolk omelet with gruyere cheese and a salad. The dish came out with egg whites mixed in and home fries instead of a salad. According to a manager, Corden began “yelling like crazy” at the server, accusing them of not performing their job, and said, “Maybe I should go into the kitchen and cook the omelet myself.”

While McNally deemed Corden a “hugely gifted comedian,” he also deemed him “the most abusive customer to my Balthazar servers since the restaurant opened 25 years ago.” The post certainly caught James Corden’s attention. According to McNally’s follow-up Instagram post, Corden called him to “profusely apologize” for his bad behavior. The owner of the acclaimed brasserie accepted the apology and rescinded the ban he had issued just hours earlier.

Showing graciousness that is the opposite of Corden’s reported behavior, Keith McNally commented, “Having f#^*ed up myself more than most people, I strongly believe in second chances.” He confirmed, “All is forgiven.”