James Corden defended by NYC restaurant owners after Balthazar ban
The restaurant industry has jumped to James Corden’s defense after he was momentarily banned from Balthazar for being a “nasty” patron.
Renowned restaurateur Stratis Morfogen told TMZ that the “Late Late Show” host is one of the most pleasant and funny customers he has ever served. Morfogen also noted that Corden was so great, he couldn’t even imagine the comedian being mean to employees at all.
Morfogen went on to recall an evening where his restaurant, Brooklyn Chop House, catered a 2018 post-Grammys event where Corden sang songs with bartenders and socialized with staffers behind the bar before leaving a generous tip.
Todd English, another well-known restaurateur, offered the same sentiments as Morfogen, calling Corden “absolutely lovely.”
English told the outlet that Corden was “incredibly personable” to him and his staff when they traveled from his Olives restaurant in Las Vegas to cater Tony Awards afterparties.
Earlier this week, Balthazar owner Keith McNally called Corden the “most abusive” customer he’s ever had and banned him from dining at the iconic French brasserie.
“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,” McNally claimed in an Instagram post on Monday.
Known for publicizing his feuds on Instagram, McNally claimed that Corden demanded freebies and threatened Balthazar with a bad review after finding a hair in his food back in June.
In another incident, McNally alleged that Corden yelled at his staffer after his wife’s eggs were not prepared to her liking during brunch.
“That’s when James Corden began yelling like crazy to the server: ‘You can’t do your job! You can’t do your job! Maybe I should go into the kitchen and cook the omelette myself!’” McNally recalled.
McNally exclusively told Page Six that he was “reluctant” to publicly bash Corden, but “did so out of loyalty to restaurant servers everywhere.”
“Their jobs are hard enough already. They shouldn’t have to take this kind of abuse from anyone, especially the rich and famous,” he told us.
But hours later, McNally un-banned Corden after he shared that the “Carpool Karaoke” star called him directly to apologize profusely.
“James Corden just called me and apologized profusely,” McNally wrote on Instagram on Monday night. “Having f–ked up myself more than most people, I strongly believe in second chances.”
He added, “Anyone magnanimous enough to apologize to a deadbeat layabout like me (and my staff) doesn’t deserve to be banned from anywhere. Especially Balthazar. All is Forgiven.”
The Corden controversy comes months after Corden announced he would no longer be hosting the late-night talk show in 2023.
