James Corden and restaurant owner Keith McNally have already settled their beef. The restauranteur has already reversed his decision less than 24 hours after he announced that Corden is banned from Balthazar, an iconic New York City staple. According to a new Instagram post from McNally, the outgoing late night host personally called him and apologized for how he treated the restaurant staff.
“Having f*cked up myself more than most people, I strongly believe in second chances,” McNally wrote. “So if James Corden lets me host his Late Late Show for 9 months, I’ll immediately rescind his ban from Balthazar. No, of course not. But…. anyone magnanimous enough to apologize to a deadbeat layabout like me (and my staff) doesn’t deserve to be banned from anywhere.”
McNally’s quick turnaround is surprising considering his initial post strongly hinted that Corden is a repeat offender, and therefore, has already been given several chances to not berate the staff. The Balthazar owner originally justified the ban by listing just two examples of Corden’s behavior, with the implication that it was a common occurrence.
“James Corden is a Hugely gifted comedian, but a tiny Cretin of a man,” McNally wrote on Monday. “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.”
However, with Corden on notice that his treatment of restaurant workers (and others in the service industry) is now being carefully monitored, maybe he’ll clean up his act. Or he’ll threaten to go back in the kitchen again and cook his own egg yolk omelette, whatever the heck that is.