James Corden officially apologises for berating New York restaurant staff - blames wife’s food allergy

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James Corden has offered an explanation for his recent run-in with New York restaurant Balthazar.

James Corden has offered an explanation and an apology for his recent controversy resulting in him getting barred, and later un-barred, from New York restaurant Balthazar. The staff had claimed Corden had “yelled like crazy” at its staff, prompting owner Keith McNally to ban the talk show host from returning to the restaurant.

Corden made the apology on The Late Late Show on Monday evening, saying he was sorry for berating the staff. The British talk show host did however deny the restaurant’s version of the events leading to the ban, claiming he never “yelled like crazy”.

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Restaurant owner Keith McNally took to Instagram last week announcing Corden was banned from the restaurant as a ‘punishment for rude and childish behaviour’ on two different occasions. One occasion had included a hair in his food, and the second had involved his wife Julia receiving egg white after ordering an egg-yolk omelette, which had led the TV-personality to yell at the staff.

Denying that he yelled at staff, Corden claimed he had become angry with the restaurant staff after his wife had been served food she was “seriously allergic” to. He also claimed that the dish had been served wrong three times, rather than the two times reported by Mr. McNally.

Corden did not agree with Mr.McNally’s account of what happened which was published  in a New York Times interview, saying: “I haven’t done anything wrong, on any level. So why would I ever cancel this (interview)? 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.”

The two have argued back and forth without Corden ever making an official apology. McNally even offered the talk show host free meals “for the next 10 years” if he apologised for his behaviour.

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An apology did eventually come from Corden. On The Late Late Show on Monday night, he explained: “My wife explained that she has a serious food allergy. The meals came, my wife was given the food that she was allergic to. She hadn’t taken a bite of it or anything, no worries, we sent it back. All was good.

“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. It is a comment I deeply regret. I worked shifts at restaurants for years, I have such respect for anyone who does that job.

James Corden offered an explanation and an apology on The Late Late Show on Monday.James Corden offered an explanation and an apology on The Late Late Show on Monday.
James Corden offered an explanation and an apology on The Late Late Show on Monday. | Getty Images

“The restaurant manager and the server were lovely, they brought out four glasses of champagne and we were like ‘that’s not necessary, we don’t need it, we had a great time’. But here’s the truth of it - because I didn’t shout or scream , I didn’t get up out of my seat, I didn’t call anyone names or use derogatory language, I have been walking around thinking that I’ve not done anything wrong. But I have, I made a rude comment.”

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