Why did James Corden get banned from a restaurant in New York city?
James Corden was shamed publically for his behavior towards waitstaff at an NYC restaurant after being called out.
Late-night host James Corden is trending after Keith McNally, an owner of multiple NYC restaurants, “86ed” him on Instagram after a few sickening encounters his staff had with the comedian. Urban Dictionary defines “86ing” as “to deny re-entry, sometimes legally or by other force; to remove or ban from approaching certain places,” and that is what McNally did earlier this week.
The ban, however, lasted only a few hours, with McNally following up that Corden had called him and “apologized profusely.”
“Having fucked up myself more than most people, I strongly believe in second chances,” said the Balthazar owner, continuing on to say that “anyone magnanimous enough to apologize to a deadbeat layabout like me (and my staff) doesn’t deserve to be banned from anywhere. Especially Balthazar. So Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Corden, Jimmy Corden. All is Forgiven. xx.”
What did McNally accuse Corden of?
McNally is not the first person to accuse Corden of assholish behavior, but this scandal created more backlash for the host than any other.
The NYC restaurant owner posted two reports from Balthazar managers, one from June and the other from earlier this month, that described Corden’s behavior.
This summer, “after eating his main course, Corden showed the hair to [a] Balthazar manager.” The manager was “very apologetic,” and Corden demanded they ”Get us another round of drinks this second. And also take care of all of our drinks so far.”
If the wait staff did not comply, he threatened to write a “nasty review” on Yelp. I must admit that it is absurd to imagine Corden, a multimillionaire, taking to Yelp to complain about a hair in his food.
But Corden’s antics do not stop there.
On 9 October, he returned to the restaurant, a bit strange considering his bad experience the first time. During this visit for brunch with his wife, McNally said that Ms. Corden “ordered an egg yolk omelette with gruyere cheese and salad.” After receiving their food, “James called their server” to report that “there was a little bit of egg white mixed with the egg yolk.” The staff happily had the kitchen remake the meal, but instead of bringing the dish back to the table with a side salad, the plate had homefries.
What a horrible error! I say with all the irony in the world.
At that point, Corden lost it and “began yelling like crazy,” telling the service that if he can’t do his job, “Maybe I should go into the kitchen and cook the omelette myself!”
I personally would love to see James Corden work one shift, let alone one hour, in a busy restaurant in the heart of New York City.
The manager on staff provided the couple with “promo Champagne glasses to smooth things out.” The manager reported that Corden was ”pleasant to him but nasty to the server,” who “was very shaken.”
The right thing to do.
To all people who have worked in the service industry, they know what it is like to deal with rude customers, and sadly Corden’s behavior is not unique.
It was bold of McNally to call the comedian out directly, but it was the right thing to do. Those in the hospitality industry do not often get the chance to stick up for themselves, and McNally’s actions showed that when called out, people can recognize their wrongs or at least see how their embarrassing behavior changes the public’s perception of them.