Restaurateur Keith McNally, who many know as ‘the restaurateur who invented downtown,’ is accusing late-night talk show host James Corden of being an ‘abusive customer’ towards his staff at his popular Balthazar restaurant in Soho, New York City – not once, but twice.
McNally shared the manager’s report of both incidents on Instagram, one of which happened in June of this year and the second of which happening on October 9 of this year – a little over a week ago. The reports detail Corden’s behavior as ‘extremely nasty’ and ‘yelling like crazy.’
“James Corden 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. I don’t often 86 a customer, to today I 86’d Corden. It did not make me laugh,” wrote McNally on Instagram.
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In June, Corden found a piece of hair in his main course – something McNally describes as ‘diabolical,’ but adds that it ‘happens very occasionally in all restaurants.’ Corden proceeded to show the hair to the manager and was ‘extremely nasty,’ even after the manager apologized.
Corden then demanded the manager get his table another round of drinks, as well as taking care of ‘all our drinks so far.’ He threatened to write a negative review on Yelp if the manager didn’t comply. McNally can understand someone being upset, but Corden crossed the line.
On October 9, Corden’s wife ordered an egg yolk omelet but flagged down the manager when she noticed a little egg white mixed in with the yolk. When the kitchen remade the dish, they sent it out with fries – she originally ordered a salad. That’s when Corden lashed out.
“You can’t do your job! You can’t do your job! Maybe I should go into the kitchen and cook the omelet myself!” yelled Corden, according to the manager’s report. Corden was given promo champagne glasses but remained ‘nasty’ to the server – who courageously finished her shift.
James Corden Apologizes to Keith McNally; Temporary Ban Lifted
Just hours after his first Instagram post went viral – it received nearly 40,000 likes – Keith McNally shared a second Instagram post – ‘James Corden just called me and apologized profusely,’ the post read. Apparently, Corden felt a little pressure from the media coverage.
“Having f**ed up myself more than most people, I strongly believe in second chances,” said McNally, adding that he’ll lift the ban on Corden if he lets him host his Late Late Show for nine months. He, of course, was kidding, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he makes an appearance!
“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” continued McNally in the Insta post.
The post only received half the amount of likes as the first post, but users were not holding back in the comments. ‘He’s got a track record for treating people badly and folks are starting to figure him out. My guess is there little to no sincerity in his apology,’ one user wrote.
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“Funny how he was apologetic after every news outlet picked up this story…” said another user. “He should attend Balthazar again and order just a beer and leave a 2000 dollar tip and a written apology to your wonderful staff,” a user said – we’ll have to see if this happens soon.