James Corden is back with an official apology…

On Monday night’s episode of The Late Late Show, the talk show host publicly addressed getting banned from the NYC restaurant Balthazar by restaurant owner Keith McNally just one week ago. And he’s really trying to sweep this all under the rug now!

If you haven’t been keeping up with the drama, Keith put James on blast for being an “abusive” customer to his employees on several occasions, and he listed two incidents as proof on Instagram. Catch up on the initial claims (below) since James is about to add some new deets!

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cj013OTPL0g/

A post shared by Keith McNally (@keithmcnallynyc)

Not good!

As we reported, hours later, James managed to reverse the ban when he supposedly called Keith to apologize. But rather than take the win, days later, the British entertainer told the New York Times he hadn’t “done anything wrong” and seemingly got himself re-banned. It’s been a whole thing!

After joking around, asking his audience if he missed any important news while the show was off the air last week for a planned break, James then got down to business on Monday night, saying seriously:

“Last week, there were stories about me being banned from a restaurant and at the time, I considered tweeting about it or Instagramming about it. But whenever these sorts of moments come my way, I like to adopt quite a British attitude of ‘Keep calm and carry on.’ Things are going to get written about me. Never complain, never explain.”

Obviously, this plan didn’t work out — and his dad (who was in the audience) even called him out on it! James added:

“But as my dad pointed out to me on Saturday, he said, ‘Son, well, you did complain so you might need to explain.’”

So true!! His NYT comments were harsh and whiny! He literally told the outlet:

“I haven’t done anything wrong, on any level. So why would I ever cancel this? I was there. I get it. I feel so Zen about the whole thing. Because I think it’s so silly. I just think it’s beneath all of us. It’s beneath you. It’s certainly beneath your publication.”

He also argued that everyone sends back their orders — as one woman did during their interview at another restaurant — so he shouldn’t be blamed for having an outburst, adding:

“Happens every day. It’s happening in 55,000 restaurants as we speak. It’s always about eggs. Can you imagine now, if we just blasted her on Twitter? Would that be fair? This is my point. It’s insane.”

Honestly, his remarks really made him look worse!! No wonder his dad thought he should clarify!

With this advice from his pops, the comedian decided to break down exactly what happened from his perspective on the show. While Keith called him out for two instances of poor behavior at Balthazar, he primarily focused on the most recent one which involved his wife, Julia Carey, and an egg yolk omelet. He detailed:

“A couple of weeks ago I was in New York with some friends. And we went for breakfast at one of my absolute favorite restaurants, it’s a place called Balthazar. I genuinely love it there. I love the food, the vibe, the service. If I lived in New York, I’d go everyday, if they would let me in. So, we sit down and we ordered. And my wife explained that she has a serious food allergy. So when everybody’s meals came, my wife was given the food that she was allergic to. But she hadn’t taken a bite of it or anything, no worries, we set it back, all was good.”

Totally understandable to send a dish back if you’re allergic to it! Unfortunately, the meal wasn’t delivered correctly several more times (one more than Keith claimed), causing James to get upset:

“As her meal came wrong to the table the third time, in the heat of the moment, I made a sarcastic, rude comment about cooking it myself. And it is a comment I deeply regret.”

The Into the Woods star went on to express his remorse for how he handled the situation, particularly because he understands how challenging it can be to work as a server, he continued:

“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. The restaurant manager and the server there were lovely, they brought out four glasses of champagne as an apology, but we were like, ‘That’s not necessary, we don’t need it.’”

So, why didn’t he just say all of this during his first public statement? It would have at least made him look a little better! Well, James truly didn’t think he’d done anything wrong, he noted:

“Because I didn’t shout or scream or 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. But the truth is I have. I made a rude comment and it was wrong. It was an unnecessary comment. It was ungracious to the server.”

Hmm. Keith described James as “yelling like crazy” when the server messed up, so… we’re not sure who to believe right now.

As for the other incident, in which he reportedly shouted about finding a stray hair in his meal and demanded drinks for the whole table, he claimed that happened in 2014 and didn’t provide much more info. Perhaps if he still remembers the incident, it was particularly noteworthy. Also for the record, this apology doesn’t explain why some fans have claimed to have witnessed James getting fed up with staff at other restaurants, meaning this wasn’t a one-time thing. Hmm.

Continuing on, the actor confirmed he had a “good talk” with the owner to settle the matter “privately” after Keith’s Instagram jab, though it sounds like he’s still unsure if he’ll be welcomed back, he concluded:

“I accept everybody’s opinion. I also hate, as I said to the owner that day, that I’ve 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 would absolutely do.”

Whoa. At least this seems like a more sincere apology, though it’s hard to know at this point if he would have ever said anything if not for the fact he’s hosting a late-night show. We’re sure CBS was pressuring him to make a better apology to get rid of the controversy.

To hear him apologize on-screen and watch him react to some HARSH AF tweets about him amid the scandal, check out the full segment (below)!

LOLz! Those tweets were tough! Reactions, Perezcious readers?!

Related Posts

Source: Read Full Article