James Corden said sorry on Monday’s broadcast of “The Late Late Show” for his “ungracious” behavior that saw him temporarily banned from New York City restaurant Balthazar last week.
The British late-night host dedicated almost five minutes of his program to explaining what led him to make what he admitted was a “rude” comment to wait staff. He offered apology after apology for his conduct, peppering his monologue with awkward one-liners. He also read out tweets that mocked him over the incident. Corden further confessed he shouldn’t have said he hadn’t done anything wrong, as he did while downplaying the incident to The New York Times — when he called the criticism “so silly.”
Initially, when Balthazar restaurateur Keith McNally called Corden out on Instagram for his conduct ― calling him a “gifted comedian, but a tiny Cretin of a man” — Corden said he intended to ignore the backlash. He spoke to McNally privately to calm things, but McNally became angered again after Corden’s talk with the Times.
“Keep calm and carry on, things are going to get written about me. Never complain, never explain is very much my motto. But as my dad pointed out to me on Saturday, you did complain, so you might need to explain,” he told his audience.
Corden recalled how his wife was accidentally handed a dish she was allergic to. “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,” he said. “And it is a comment I deeply regret.”
“I made a rude comment and it was wrong,” he told his audience. “It was an unnecessary comment. It was ungracious to the server.”
“I love that restaurant. I love the staff there,” he added. “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 will absolutely do.”
Watch Corden’s mea culpa here:
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